(stock photo)

The pothole on Torrey Pines Road that cyclist Jonathan Sammartino struck in March 2015 — sending him over his handlebars head first into the concrete — had been on the city's radar for more than four years, according to documents obtained by the Reader through a public records request.

Those documents show that residents had notified the city of potholes existing on the 1600 block of Torrey Pines Road on numerous occasions since January 2011. In fact, records show that the potholes were filled and then refilled several times throughout the five-year span that the public records request covered.

For example, on April 28, 2011, city crews patched two potholes at that location. The following month, in May 2011, there was another complaint submitted to the city for the same location. In December 2011, crews returned to the site and patched three more potholes.

In February 2013, the city again received a complaint of potholes on the 1600 block of Torrey Pines Road. Once again, crews showed up and made repairs to a 20-square-foot length of asphalt; another complaint was submitted in August 2014 for a pothole at that location. The following month crews filled the hole.

In March 2015, Sammartino rode over the pothole on his bike; it caused him to crash into the pavement. The collision knocked him unconscious. He suffered seizures and upon admittance to Scripps Memorial Hospital doctors discovered his brain was bleeding. After a five-day stint in the intensive care unit, Sammartino was transferred to an outpatient rehabilitation facility to recover.

In February 2016, Sammartino sued the city for, among other reasons, failing to protect the public.

According to the complaint, the "pothole is visible on images on the Internet, including satellite images and from street-view images taken months before the accident...

"The City of San Diego likely had actual notice of the condition, such as by observation or citizen complaints, but at very least had constructive notice of the dangerous condition sufficient in time to have taken measures to protect against the dangerous condition...."

In recent years the city has agreed to settle lawsuits over dangerous roads and sidewalks. And, in a March 4 audit, San Diego's city auditor said conditions will worsen as long as crews fail to adopt adequate guidelines when addressing a deteriorating public right-of-way.

Earlier this month, mayor Kevin Faulconer announced a budget proposal that, if adopted, would dedicate millions of dollars to improving the city's failing infrastructure.

Not all were impressed with his declaration.

Mayoral candidate Lori Saldaña told the Union-Tribune that Faulconer's proposal was far from adequate.

"It does not make sense to patch a pothole as the road around it disintegrates. Such shortsighted ‘solutions’ are what got us here in the first place."