San Antonio repaired 75,000 pot holes last year. The city’s transportation and capital improvements department says it wants to repair even more this year using its Pothole Patrol crew of more than 30 workers, whose job it is to ride around the city looking for potholes.
During what it calls a Pothole blitz, the city eclipsed its initial goal of filling 7,500 potholes this month by filling 9,500.
District 9 Councilman John Courage got a lesson in the science of potholes Tuesday, using oil, asphalt, and an asphalt roller to help of a crew.
“I think it’s important for people to understand what it takes and the kind of crews we have out here doing this,” he said.
Even though the city repaired 75,000 potholes last year, only 20 percent of those were from citizen calls. Paul Berry, a spokesman for the city’s transportation department, says more could be filled if residents call them in.
“So if people can get on the line and call 311, we make a guarantee that we will repair those potholes within two business days,” he said.
Berry said the calls the city is getting are mostly coming from the areas close to downtown and the center of the city.
“So a lot of the inner city people are calling while a lot of the people on the outskirts haven’t called nearly as much,” he said.
Crews on the pothole patrol fill more than 500 potholes per day and each one costs the city about $39 to fill.
Joey Palacios can be reached at joey@TPR.org and on Twitter at @Joeycules