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Oakland Hills Resident Spur Action On Potholes With Spray Paint

OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- Two neighbors worried about dangerous potholes in the Oakland hills are taking the initiative.

They are spray painting the trouble spots in an attempted to get Oakland officials to take action.

For Linda Foust, living along Thornhill Drive in Oakland is heavenly, as long as you can avoid the minefield of potholes.

"It got so bad I was afraid that if I went through it again I wouldn't come out the other side with a whole car," said Foust.

So she bought some paint and, with help from another neighbor in the area, started marking the road. They drew arrows and circles to highlight the potholes for a mile stretch.

"We had a tea date and I said, 'Wendy let's just take a walk instead and do all these potholes I started,'" explained Foust.

She says it's been a problem for months. But after the paint hit the pavement, the city took notice.

Public works crews on Wednesday spent hours filling in hundreds of holes along Thornhill Drive near Moraga Avenue and up the hill.

But soon after, the gravel and tar used to fill the holes started flying off as cars zoom over.

Neighbor Ed Matney would like to see a more permanent fix.

"They don't use a pressure roller and it gets flipped up by the cars in a day or two," said Matney. "This is basically a lipstick on a pig event here."

Still, with Public Works crews at least making an attempt to fill the holes, Foust is happy that -- after all the decades of living in Oakland -- she's making her mark on the city.

"I've never taken the initiative and done some civic thing like this before," said Foust.

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