$1.78 million of new funding to repair Shaw Avenue in City of Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- On Tuesday, the City of Fresno announced new funding for repairing the road along one of the city's busiest areas, on Shaw Avenue from Highway 99, down to Blackstone Avenue.

"Shaw Avenue happens to be one of those streets that as you drive, west of here, you will see that some of that area is definitely at risk, filled with potholes and cracks in the street, and has significant deferred maintenance," said Fresno Mayor, Jerry Dyer.

Mayor Jerry Dyer says the $1.78 million federal transportation grant will go towards improvements on Shaw Avenue.

The funds will be phased in through 2027, but in the meantime for the first time on Shaw, crews are still working to hot patch the roadway by breaking out the damaged part of the street and put down new hot asphalt.

"It comes out of the asphalt well over 250 degrees, and then the crews have a short window of time to get the material in place and then rigged and smoothed and rolled and compacted," said Assistant Director of Public Works, Brian Russell.

Russell says while the rain can cause the potholes, they are also in a race against time to repair them.

"This work has to be done in dry weather, so during the rainstorms we're stuck, we can try and patch it but odds are, it's not going to hold, we utilize the warm sunny days like today, to get out and blitz our potholes city-wide," said Russell.

There's also an additional $2.7 million that will be put to use, and councilmember for the area, Mike Karbassi says the wear and tear work, does not stop here.

"This moment is the kickoff of a long overdue investment into the Shaw roadway, and I as a councilmember am not going to rest until we turn Shaw Avenue into the smooth and safe roadway Fresno residents deserve," said Fresno councilmember, Mike Karbassi.

Drivers can expect traffic along Shaw Avenue this week - and they say to have short-term patience, for a long-term solution.

In the meantime, drivers can still report potholes to 311 or the FresnoGo app.

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