City Unveils New, Aggressive Pothole Plan

The City of Indianapolis has announced an advanced, aggressive plan for attacking potholes. At Mayor Greg Ballard’s direction, the City is creating a plan to utilize private contractors to come along side AFSCME #725 union crews to assist with pothole repair. In addition, the City is working with local asphalt plants to get access to hot asphalt earlier than usual.

“Mayor Ballard has made it clear that our priority at the Department of Public Works (DPW) is to make the streets safe for travel,” said David Sherman, director of the Department of Public Works. “His direction is for our team to be as proactive as possible and this aggressive approach will help Indianapolis residents and commuters as they travel our streets.”

Asphalt plants typically close during the cold weather season as demand declines. With the increased demand from the City for both pothole repairs and RebuildIndy construction projects, we have been working with the local plants to see if they can open early. Having access to hot asphalt means that the repairs made by pothole crews will last longer. Typically during this time of year, the crews use a cold asphalt mix that works as a short-term fix until the asphalt plants are open.

This is in addition to the City’s efforts last weekend and this week with a pothole blitz that sent out extra crews daily to repair potholes.

The freeze-thaw cycles of Indianapolis weather cause potholes to be formed, sometimes overnight. DPW crews are working diligently to address them as quickly as possible.

Residents and commuters are encouraged to let the City know when a pothole is spotted. To report a pothole, please visit www.indy.gov/pothole. Potholes can also be reported by calling the Mayor’s Action Center at 327-4MAC.