MILWAUKEE — MILWAUKEE— Milwaukee’s pothole problems are worse than ever. That came straight from the city engineer who oversees it all.
Budget cuts and labor shortages are to blame for the delay in getting them filled quickly, which according to the Public Works Department has a turnaround time of about six days from when a pothole is reported to being filled. Milwaukee’s Public Works Committee would like to see that turnaround time cut in half. Especially Alderwoman JoCasta Zamarripa.
She says her office was inundated with calls that West National Avenue, from South 9th Street to the city border was plagued with potholes. She says she was disappointed that the turnaround time to fix this large stretch took two weeks.
Ald. Zamarripa said to DPW leaders present at the committee meeting Wednesday, “You and I talked about sticking to a three-day turnaround on potholes and so this was very distressing. I do feel that it took too long.”
“I’ve seen some potholes that I swear to God are at least five inches deep,” said driver Ed Villor.
Driver Michael Coman said, “Oh it cost me a shock already! $230! I’m not kidding you.”
One woman said she called the office of Common Council President Jose Perez about this issue. “Couple times and left messages about them. You can’t get around them almost every corner has them.”
“My office is being pummeled with complaints!” said Alderman Bob Baumann at the Public Works Committee meeting.
“First and foremost, we hear you,” said Kevin Muhs, City of Milwaukee Engineer.
Muhs explained to the committee, the delay includes not only budget and staffing issues, but the wacky weather has not been gentle on pavement. Alderman Baumann pushed back. “I get the weather, but is the weather different in West Allis? Greenfield? Glendale? Shorewood?”
To which Muhs replied, “No. That brings to the other point which is the deferred maintenance on city roadways.”
Muhs says more than 4,600 potholes have been fixed so far this year in the city. That is nearly double all of last year.
Drivers like Villor just want the roads to be safe. “I have to swerve, it feels like you’re drunk driving just to not hit one of them.”
Muhs says, “We need to do a better job as a department to communicate [sic] on where we are and how responsive we can be.”
The committee spoke about the goal for public works to have a three-day turnaround to fix a pothole from when someone reports one. The average response time so far this year is six days, more than two days faster than all of last year.
If you have a pothole in your neighborhood that needs repair, DPW wants to know about it. You can report it by calling the hotline at: 414-286-CITY (2489) or click here to submit an online pothole repair service request.
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