March 10, 2014

Mayor Emanuel Orders Pothole Strike Teams to Arterial Streets

All Crews to Fill Potholes on Arterial Streets on Monday and Friday

Mayor's Press Office    312.744.3334

Mayor Rahm Emanuel today ordered the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) to form pothole "strike teams" to work in geographical grids only on arterial streets every Monday and Friday for the next several weeks.

"This extraordinary winter has taken a toll on our streets, and for the remainder of the pothole season, we will have teams targeting repairs to the city's major thoroughfares," Mayor Emanuel said. "Our main arterials are the most heavily travelled by drivers and at higher speeds, so we will focus efforts to restore these streets for our residents."

To date in 2014, CDOT crews have filled approximately 240,000 potholes. Six additional crews were added on March 1 to give CDOT up to 30 pothole crews on the street at one time, including double the amount of crews that currently work weekends. The extra crews, starting earlier than usual, are expected to fill approximately 25,000 more holes in March.

"CDOT staff will continue to fill potholes wherever they appear, but we will now focus our attention on the city's major streets which are the most heavily traveled," said CDOT Commissioner Rebekah Scheinfeld. "We are adjusting our tactics to address the biggest pothole problem areas in the city that affect the most people."

For the next several weeks on Monday and Friday, when CDOT has the most pothole crews available, every team will be assigned to arterial streets. They will work in geographical grids to address potholes on Chicago's 1,055 miles of major thoroughfares.

CDOT is also developing an expanded plan to resurface additional streets in 2014, which will help to improve the overall quality of the streets and reduce the number of potholes we may see next winter.

Chicagoans can track the fight against potholes and see a week's worth of CDOT's work on the City's Pothole Tracker application (www.chicago.gov/potholetracker), which shows not only the calls for service but the number of potholes filled during each site visit.

Chicagoans can report potholes in a number of ways, including:

  • Calling 311
  • Using the City's website at www.chicago.gov/311 or various Open 311 smartphone applications.
  • Using ChiText by texting "Chicago" to 311311 to start the reporting process

 

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