A. A "Pothole" is a hole in the street with the bottom of the hole shaped like the bottom of a pot (rounded). When a vehicle drives over a pothole the driver may experience trouble with the steering and damage can occur to the vehicle's tires and suspension. In order to lessen the impact on drivers from potholes, the Bureau will attempt to repair these small defects in the street within 24 hours to mitigate the damage they may cause.

A. The Bureau's goal is to respond to requests to fix potholes within 24 hours of receipt of the request. The exception is during rainstorms and immediately after rainstorms, when requests can increase four and five times the normal number of requests. In these instances the Bureau can accumulate several weeks of backlogged requests. Reassignment of crews and overtime is used to eliminate the backlog as quickly as possible. (Delays are caused anytime water is present at the repair site.)

A. Many requests to repair "potholes" are actually to repair sunken and raised trenches, eroded flowlines and alligator cracking. (See the Pothole Information page for explanations).

These roadway defects may take several weeks to investigate and to schedule required repairs.