It's been a year of "catch-up on patch-up" for state and city road crews fixing potholes and paving short stretches of roads across O'ahu in the wake of 43 days of spring rains.

State and city crews have filled tens of thousands of potholes and paved miles of roads — some with quicker, first-aid steps and others with more extensive longer-lasting techniques.

Larry Leopardi, city road maintenance division chief, noted that the city has picked up speed on its pothole-patching schedule during the recent dry weather. He said the city as of the end of August had patched 43,727 potholes this year, compared with 46,603 for all of 2005.

State Transportation Department spokesman Scott Ishikawa said the state is averaging only about three to five pothole calls a day instead of 25 during rainy season and about twice as many — 40 to 50 a day — two years ago.

Ask Leopardi and Ishikawa about potholes, and they emphasize the short-term nature of the patch and the bigger expense of the more permanent paving as well as the importance of getting a lot of work done before the next rainy season sets in.

"It's not a matter of throwing some hot-mix asphalt on there and saying we're done," Leopardi said.

"Patching potholes is a quick fix but it's only temporary," Ishikawa said. "Repaving is the only way you're going to get rid of the problem."

He said the state spent about $300,000 this year for pothole patching and another $600,000 on a road maintenance contract to take care of short stretches of road "that are really torn up."

Leopardi said the city also has had success with another technique, applying a thin coat of asphalt over a larger area.

"We do a lot of first aid, which is only meant to buy some time until they can be properly repaired," he said.

PATIENCE IS KEY

Even with both state and city crews spending time and money on the problem, some high-traffic roads are just more vulnerable to the wear and tear.

"We have a lot more cars on the roads," Ishikawa said.

He hopes drivers will be patient with the roadwork they see, realizing that the long-term improved roads are worth the short-term inconvenience.

Leopardi said the number of crews out patching potholes varies by day or week.

"After a major storm we may have everybody out doing potholes. Other days they're out striping, putting down the pavement markings," he said. Sometimes the same crews are cleaning storm drains or painting out graffiti.

State and city crews got behind on some work because of an asphalt shortage in May and June.

"We couldn't get it for weeks at a time," Leopardi said. "We're trying to get caught up from that."

Waipahu resident Richard Oshiro commutes to downtown daily. He's dealt with some inconvenience caused by roadwork — especially along Farrington Highway, which is now having a 3 1/2 mile stretch paved. That means lanes are closed off and on during the work.

"I think we endure some of the delays because of the roadwork," Oshiro said. "When it's done, it's good for the community."

Oshiro said he thinks most drivers realize that paving must be done constantly for state and city crews to even begin to keep up with the job of making the streets safe.

Each of us notices the pits and bumpy stretches along our own daily path, so Oshiro knows that the problem is found everywhere.

"There are some areas even worse than our community," he said.

BETTER NOW THAN LATER

Leopardi said the city also is catching up from years of repairs and rehabilitation being put off. He said Waimanalo and Kailua residents have seen the crews out a lot lately.

"It's really frustrating for the public," he said. "If we don't do the work and don't put up with the inconvenience now, it's going to be a lot more inconvenient later."

Ishikawa said the short-stretch road fixes help by hitting an area as short as 50 feet to as long as a mile. By tackling a problem segment, crews can take care of pukas that already are there and areas of wanna-be potholes before they grow too large.

"We're trying to be more proactive than reactive," he said.

He said the long spring rains helped in that they didn't allow crews a chance to start the repairs so they weren't patching the same places in between rains. "It doesn't make sense to patch potholes in the rain; the ground has to dry up."

Ishikawa said the timing of the long rains actually worked out well for the stretch of Kamehameha Highway near Ka'a'awa because it was scheduled for major work right around the time of the rainiest weather.

"That road really took a beating," Ishikawa said. "We were kind of relieved we did the repaving work after the storms and not before."

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.