MILWAUKEE — Where there are roads, there unfortunately are potholes and the problem seems to only be growing in Milwaukee.
"We are topping previous records for potholes with 9,000 requests," said Mayor Cavalier Johnson. "That's more this year already than what was recorded in 2020 and in 2021."
"I remember driving in Milwaukee and just hitting the hugest pothole in my life. I feel like half the time I'm definitely going to get into an accident," said Milwaukee resident Cory Chicomas.
Department of Public Works (DPW) officials say the issue is city-wide, and that almost every neighborhood is plagued with potholes.
"We commute back and forth from Bay View, and if you take the streets you can find them all along the way," said another resident, Ethan Featherston.
"It's a daily occurrence. You start to remember where the local ones are," said Scott Davies.
According to Mayor Johnson, DPW is facing a number of challenges that are preventing them from filling these potholes as quickly as they'd like to.
"We're doing it with less staff than we've had in years prior," said Johnson.
"We have about a 10% vacancy in that department. The city of Milwaukee could always use more dollars towards local and state pavings. The more money we can get, the less potholes we will have," said DPW Commissioner Jerrel Kruschke.
To make up for the shortage, DPW says they're offering weekday overtime pay and opportunities to fill potholes on Saturdays to employees.
"On top of that, DPW has nine additional city laborers that are working specifically in street maintenance specifically out there taking care of these requests," said Johnson.
And with approximately 2,000 potholes left to fill, DPW officials are hoping with these additional changes they'll be able to fill them sooner rather than later.
To report a pothole that you see within Milwaukee, click here.
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