SAN DIEGO – Residents in La Jolla received a long-awaited update on roadwork coming soon to La Jolla Parkway at Thursday’s town council meeting.

City representatives announced the major thoroughfare is set to be repaved. Construction will begin in March and wrap up by Memorial Day.

“Everybody almost drives that every day, and it is particularly very bad,” said La Jolla Town Council President Jerri Hunt.

The road has been riddled with potholes for some time, but the city said crews came out to the area just last week.

“I think that it’s been a long-term issue and they’ve kind of just put a band-aid on things and then we had all that rain exacerbated an already bad situation,” Hunt said. 

It’s just one area that led the La Jolla Town Council to focus this month’s meeting on potholes. Representatives from San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria’s office and the transportation department were there to answer questions.

“You guys in the middle of the night last week came out and did some things, thank you. I appreciate that we’ve had a few less tires pop this week, but we need to look at long-term solutions, not just short term,” Trustee Chuck Merriman said.

City representatives also provided insight into how pothole fixes are prioritized, listing factors like the amount of traffic and proximity to emergency facilities, schools, or tourist attractions.

“La Jolla is a world tourist destination so that caught my attention. When I see you’re giving priority to tourist attractions, not only do we want people to be safe when they come here, we want to be proud,” Trustee Suzanne Baracchini said.

The Get It Done app or website continues to be the best avenue for residents to report a pothole. The city says the current response time is typically about 10 days.

City staff also expanded the team working on potholes after the storms from 20 to 150 people.