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After numerous complaints from service members, families and civilians, construction to fix the huge potholes and uneven pavement on Pulaski Road is finally underway.
“I use this road at least once every day. I’m very pleased that the road work has begun. It was in very bad condition,” said Mary Murphy, a community member who frequents Pulaski. “I’ve nearly crashed a few times trying to avoid all the potholes.”
Pulaski Road was initially designed for low volumes of traffic and to accommodate sedans. The road began to deteriorate after the closing of the Vogelweh main entrance due to additions to the Kaiserslautern High School campus. As a result, Pulaski Road became the main entrance to all traffic, including heavy tractor trailers hauling supplies on post.
“It was designed for sedans (and) moderate use, not for 40 ton tractor trailers on a regular basis,” said Jason Dickerson, chief of the operations and maintenance division, U.S. Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz, Directorate of Public Works.
Over the last couple of years potholes and uneven pavement began to form. This led to numerous complaints from community members during garrison town hall meetings, on social media sites and even phone calls to the American Forces Network.
DPW received calls every week asking for repairs to be made, and workers did their best to patch the roadway, but the problem was not as simple as new asphalt.
“It’s the top surface and the subsurface as well,” Dickerson said. “We have to go down more than two feet for foundation work.”
The most cost effective way to solve the problem was to launch a project that would permanently fix a one kilometer stretch from Pulaski Gate to the shoppette. The $75,000 project will continue throughout the summer and will be completed in stages to allow patrons access to services, such as the Auto Skills Center, car wash and the sports field.
“We kept in mind people that need access to resources and amenities out there,” Dickerson said. “I’m really glad I will be able to bring my family to these facilities,” Murphy said. “It would have been a real pity if they were shut down.”
