Washington, DC

Washington, DC - The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) filled nearly 12,000 potholes during its sixth annual Potholepalooza campaign, which came to an end on Friday, May 9. During Potholepalooza, which Mayor Vincent C. Gray launched on April 9, DDOT crews expedited repairs to damaged roadways that were reported by District residents and commuters.

In 23 working days, DDOT’s Street and Bridge Maintenance Branch received 2,312 service requests for pothole repairs and filled 11,982 potholes. By comparison, DDOT received 849 service requests during Potholepalooza in 2013 and filled 3,899 potholes.

To date, DDOT has filled more than 42,300 potholes in 2014.

“I’d like to thank everyone at DDOT for their extraordinary effort during this year’s Potholepalooza,” said DDOT Acting Director Matthew Brown. “The dedicated staff members in our Street and Bridge Maintenance Division helped us fill more than three times the amount of potholes that we filled during last year’s campaign.”

During Potholepalooza, DDOT dispatched multiple crews and “pothole killer” trucks each day to make repairs. The agency filled an average of 521 potholes a day, far eclipsing last year’s average of 169 potholes per day.  Residents, motorists and cyclists participated by reporting road damage online, by phone, via Twitter/Facebook, or through the DC311 smartphone app. Residents were able to go online to track the Potholepalooza campaign’s progress through an interactive map.

This year’s Potholepalooza campaign is now over, but people are encouraged to continue to contact DDOT to report potholes or make other service requests.  Residents and commuters can notify DDOT in a variety of ways:

1) Call the Mayor’s Call Center at 311,
2) Use the On-line Service Request Center at 311.dc.gov,
3) Send a tweet to twitter.com/DDOTDC, or
4) Use the District’s DC311 smartphone application.

Residents and commuters 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.