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CBS 8 viewers say pothole problems are getting worse around San Diego County

Encanto man says the city denied his claim for damages because they didn’t know about the pothole before he hit it.

SAN DIEGO — With hundreds of responses to our CBS 8 Streets Survey, it's becoming clear that roads across San Diego County are a major source of frustration. 

Based on results through Monday, 88% of you say streets in your neighborhood are worse today than a year ago. 

The words we heard most often included “terrible”, “horrible”, and “bad” with Clairemont, Mira Mesa and Rancho Penasquitos leading the way for the most complaints.

“They're brutal now,” said Encanto resident Tyler Kelpin. We got multiple complaints from that area. “Super frustrating because we spend a lot of money on taxes and our roads are still horrible.” 

Tyler says he blew out two tires on potholes, but didn't bother to file a claim with the city to get reimbursed. “I heard people try it and they city is like, nope - it's on your own. Do it yourself," he said.

Dana Tate says he hit a pothole last March and immediately knew there was a problem. When he got home, he discovered a bubble in his tire and damage to the rim. He filed a claim with the city and showed us a letter confirming they denied it. He called the city to ask why. 

“They denied my claim due to no incidents being submitted in the Get It Done app for that specific pothole,” he says he was told.

In other words, since they didn't know about the pothole, they weren't responsible for any damage it caused. Dana paid for a new tire, but the repair shop told him if his rim gets any worse it will probably have to be replaced. 

“We deal with these potholes continuously and I do more evasive driving worried about potholes than I do worrying about other drivers,” he said.

Dana told us, on a scale of one to ten, he rates his roads a one and CBS 8 viewers reported frustration all over the county. 

From Carmel Mountain, someone described their roads as a “lunar landscape, disgraceful.” Gold Coast Drive in Mira Mesa was described as “TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!” and in Escondido one comment read, “Terrible, deplorable, worse than worst.”

And with more rain on the way, many fear things are only going to get worse. CBS 8 reached out to the City of San Diego to get clarification on their claim process, but because Monday was a federal holiday, we didn’t hear back. 

We will reach back out again this week to get more answers.

SURVEY: How are the roads in your San Diego County neighborhood?

WATCH RELATED: City of San Diego crews work to fill as many potholes as possible before next week's rain

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