After being hailed a hero for filling in a pothole in his Brentwood community, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s good deed has not gone unpunished, with the city claiming he interrupted scheduled maintenance for a service trench.
A city spokesperson clarified that the location “is not a pothole,” but rather “a service trench that relates to active, permitted work being performed at the location by SoCal Gas, who expects the work to be completed by the end of May,” in a statement given to NBC Los Angeles.
A city spokesperson later told Fox News Digital that work began on Jan. 26 to “upgrade the pipeline system on Mandeville Canyon Road,” where temporary paving was applied. Standard procedure followed by SoCalGas includes permanently paving the area within approximately 30 days from the conclusion of work, however the city saw complications due to “extraordinary wet and inclement weather.” The expectation now is that they will be finished by the end of the week.
A representative for Schwarzenegger believes the city is “being careful with their wording to imply Arnold prevented their gas line work without directly saying it, because it’s not true.”
According to Schwarzenegger’s rep, the former California governor actually filled in two potholes, and only one of them was a service trench.
In photos taken by Schwarzenegger and obtained by Fox News Digital, a hazard sign can be seen in the middle of the road, blocking off a significant portion of the street.
A second photo shows another pothole, which allegedly was not a service trench. Schwarzenegger’s rep says the city has left it out of their statements.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
“The city’s first response to this news was that the service trench would be filled by the end of May,” his rep continued. “So it appears their plan was to close one lane of a two lane road and force people to drive in cars and bicycles in wrong way traffic for 2 more months, which is insane.”
On Tuesday, “The Terminator” star took to his Twitter to share a video of him and a crew fixing a “giant pothole” in his neighborhood, which he said had been “screwing up cars and bicycles for weeks.”
“I went out with my team and fixed it,” the 75-year-old wrote. “I always say, let’s not complain, let’s do something about it. Here you go.”
The actor’s representative also told Fox News Digital that “Arnold doesn’t blame the Mayor for this because she hasn’t been in office very long, he just wanted to protect his neighbors and show that it is possible to work quickly.”
Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson contributed to this report.
