Arnold Schwarzenegger picks up a shovel and fills enormous pothole in LA neighborhood
Action star and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was seen filling a nearby pothole after waiting several weeks for the problem to be resolved with no luck.
In a minute-long video posted to his Twitter page, 75-year-old Schwarzenegger teams up with another man to fill the large pothole that he said has been plaguing his neighborhood for weeks.
The eleven atmospheric rivers that hit California this year have eased the drought that has plagued the state for years, but have also created potholes and cracks in local streets and highways.
Road crews are struggling to keep up with the demand for repairs after the exceptionally stormy season.
The 75-year-old former governor took matters into his own hands regarding a neighborhood pit that had been plaguing residents for weeks
The case is apparently no different in the affluent enclave of Bel Air, where Schwarzenegger lives in a palatial home spanning nearly 15,000 square feet.
In the video posted Tuesday, which has been viewed 4.5 million times, Schwarzenegger pours a bag of Quikrete into the pit and begins spreading it with a shovel in the evening.
A woman in a white car drives up to thank the team of workers before realizing who’s doing the heavy lifting.
“Oh, Arnold!” she exclaimed, seeing who was responsible for helping the neighbours.
“You’re welcome,” he said. ‘You have to do it yourself. This is crazy. I waited three weeks for this gap to be closed.’
The Terminator actor captioned the video, “Today, after the whole neighborhood was upset about this giant pothole that has been ruining cars and bikes for weeks, I went out with my team and fixed it.
‘I always say: let’s not complain, let’s do something about it. Please.’
Daniel Ketchell, a Schwarzenegger spokesman, said Brentwood residents have repeatedly called for repairs since winter storms caused potholes and cracks on local roads.
Mayor Karen Bass last week announced a plan to do something about what she called an unprecedented number of damaged streets in the city. Since Dec. 30, Los Angeles has received 19,692 service calls for repairs, and by April 6, crews had plugged at least 17,549 potholes, officials said.
The Terminator actor wore brown work boots, a brown bomber jacket, an all black athleisure look, dark sunglasses and a white beard to do the neighborhood work.
Schwarzenegger served as governor of California from 2003 to 2011.
Extreme flooding in California in recent months has created numerous potholes and damaged local roads and highways in other ways
A car is pictured after falling into a sinkhole in Chatsworth, California in January following a flood
Workers make emergency road repairs in Soquel, California, after high winds and heavy rains washed away a local road
According to ABC7, a Los Angeles Department of Public Works official said the hole Schwarzenegger has filled isn’t really a pit, but rather a service trench to be tended by the Southern California Gas Company.
In addition, the utility said that because the road is concrete, not asphalt, Schwarzenegger’s nifty work may only be a temporary fix.
Some Twitter users in the comments section seemed to agree with that assessment.
Aaron Cooper wrote, “Cool. But this is all wrong. For prepacked asphalt to work properly, the area must be tack coated and then the asphalt must be heated to activate the oil and emulsion so that the patch can adhere to the area as well as itself.
“I do asphalt work for a living,” he said.
NBC News Los Angeles reported that a City of LA official said Schwarzenegger filled in a service trench “relating to active, permitted work being performed at the site by SoCal Gas, which expects work to be completed by the end of May ‘.