AASHTO Journal, 26 April 2013
District Department of Transportation officials joined Washington, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray this week to ask the public to participate in DDOT’s 5th annual Potholepalooza campaign, aimed at repairing the damage done to area roadways over the winter.
During the month-long campaign, which will run through May 22, DDOT relies on the public to contact the department with specific locations of troublesome potholes. The department adds extra crews to tackle these repairs, thereby reducing the average response time by a full day (from the typical 72 hours to 48 hours during Potholepalooza).
“Our fifth annual Potholepalooza campaign is a chance to collaborate with residents and commuters to smooth over our city’s streets,” said DDOT Director Bill Bellamy in a statement. “It’s also an opportunity to showcase the work of our street and bridge maintenance crews, who will be out there filling potholes, as well as our customer service staff, who will be fielding Potholepalooza requests.”
D.C. residents can track the Potholepalooza campaign’s progress through an online map, located here, and view photos, videos, and updates of the campaign on its Facebook page. Anyone interested in reporting potholes can do so by calling the mayor’s call center, using the online service request center, tweet DDOT, comment on the Facebook page, email Potholepalooza AT dc.gov, or use D.C.’s new DC311 smartphone app.
DDOT first launched Potholepalooza in 2009. Since then, the program has been responsible for filling more than 21,000 potholes. Just last year, DDOT received more than 450 pothole service requests and was able to fill 2,443 potholes.
