Washington, DC

Washington, DC - The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) has filled more than 7,500 potholes since Mayor Vincent C. Gray and DDOT launched the agency’s sixth annual Potholepalooza campaign on April 9.

At the halfway point of DDOT’s month-long Potholepalooza campaign (April 24), DDOT has almost doubled the number of potholes it filled during the entire 2013 Potholepalooza campaign. While DDOT filled 3,899 potholes during 2013’s Potholepalooza, the agency has already filled 7,593 potholes during the first 15 days of the 2014 campaign.

Moreover—as of April 28—DDOT has filled 38,109 potholes in 2014, which is more than four times the amount of potholes that the agency repaired during the same period in 2013. DDOT filled 9,325 potholes from January 1 to April 28, 2013.      

During Potholepalooza, many of the potholes were identified with the help of the public, who reported damaged roadways to DDOT by phone, email, Twitter, or by going onto DDOT’s website or reporting it using the DC311 smartphone app.

“This year we had our work cut out for us. We had extremely cold temperatures this past winter, which led to more potholes than we’ve seen in some time.” said DDOT Director Terry Bellamy. “But with the public’s help, DDOT is rising to the challenge to get our roads back in shape.”

This year’s Potholepalooza will run through May 9.  As part of the campaign, DDOT is adding extra crews to fill potholes and aims to repair identified locations within 48 hours (the normal response time is within 72 hours).  During Potholepalooza, residents and commuters are encouraged to phone, go online, tweet, email or use the DC311 smartphone app to submit requests for pothole repairs.

How to Report a Pothole

Residents and commuters can notify DDOT in a variety of ways:

1) Call the Mayor’s Call Center at 311,
2) Use the Online Service Request Center at 311.dc.gov,
3) Send a tweet to twitter.com/DDOTDC,
4) Email [email protected], or
5) Use the District’s new DC311 smartphone application.

Callers should identify the precise location including the correct quadrant (northwest, northeast, southeast, southwest) in the city and provide as much detail as possible about the hazard, including the approximate size and depth of the pothole.  DDOT crews will also be out and about proactively identifying potholes.