(Washington, DC) – Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser kicked off the ninth annual Potholepalooza – a month-long campaign led by DC Department of Transportation (DDOT) to accelerate pothole repairs across Washington, DC.
“Today, we are taking an even more aggressive and efficient approach to repairing potholes throughout the city,” said Mayor Bowser. “In a thriving city like Washington, DC, residents and visitors should expect roads that are in good conditions. Potholepalooza is one way our city can deliver more safe and reliable roads to residents in all eight wards.”
This year, DDOT pothole crews will use new hot box equipment to increase efficiency. Hot boxes are tools that keep asphalt at the proper temperature, ensuring it does not go to waste, and allowing DDOT to recycle milled material into asphalt. Four new hot boxes will be attached to vehicles and perform work previously contracted to external companies. In addition, DDOT crews will continue using mobile geographic information system (GIS) mapping technology that allows the status of pothole repairs to be updated in real time. While using the GIS mapping technology, DDOT staff can connect to the live service request database to indicate work performed and include pictures of completed work. The map will also update reports to 311 within an hour.
During the month-long campaign, residents and visitors are encouraged to submit pothole repair service requests, and DDOT pothole crews will work to filling reported potholes within 48 hours of a service request being submitted. The normal response time is within 72 hours. The Potholepalooza campaign progress can be tracked online using the interactive online map at ddot.dc.gov/service/pothole-repair. DDOT will also post daily updates with the overall totals of potholes filled.
“Today, we declare war on potholes and continue to make it our mission to improve the condition of our roads,” said Jeff Marootian, DDOT Deputy Director. “We are proud to deploy pothole repair teams with state-of-the-art equipment. This campaign works best when DC residents and visitors send us requests so our crews can continue to repair all streets in DC.”
Although today's event officially launched the Potholepalooza campaign, DDOT has already been hard at work filling more than 2,000 potholes since last fall. Since 2010, DDOT crews have filled more than 331,000 potholes. During the 2016 Potholepalooza campaign, DDOT received more than 2,000 service requests for pothole repairs, and filled more than 16,700 potholes.
How to Report a Pothole
Residents and visitors can report a pothole by:
- Calling the Mayor's Call Center at 311
- Visiting DDOT’s online pothole repair site
- Tweeting @DDOTDC and/or using hashtag #potholepalooza
- Emailing the Service Request Center
- Using DC’s 311 smartphone app
- Texting DC 311 (Type pothole, then the service request location. Type status for an update)