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Pothole Patrol: DPW receives over 30% more pothole reports than this time last year

Crews in Milwaukee are receiving about 36% more pothole reports than they were at this point last year.

By: Shaun Gallagher

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MILWAUKEE — Crews in Milwaukee are receiving about 36% more pothole reports than they were at this point last year.

So far in 2020, DPW has 620 pothole reports. At this point last year, they had 455 reports. However, that number skyrocketed due to record cold temperatures. By the end of April 2019, DPW received 7,979 reports about potholes.

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"Every day, unless there is a snow emergency, we're out with our street maintenance crews filling potholes," Brian DeNeve, DPW Spokesperson said. "In 2019, we saw a major surge and it came up a little earlier in the season. Around April, May you'll see an abundance of potholes that come after the winter months. But a number of factors last year in 2019, we did see a spike."

Thursday, crews were driving south on 60th Street near Capitol Drive. With a full truck bed of cold patch, two men shoveled the gravel concoction into street holes for a temporary fix.

"It's not comfortable driving when you're hitting something like that," DeNeve said. "There are some expectations in having a safe driving surface and rightfully so."

It's more than a driving nuisance to Erv Gross.

"Any trailer that comes through here or a semi, that makes a lot of noise," Gross said. "Like thunder was coming through here. It's bad."

Gross says every morning, the noise trailers and semis make as they speed by his home on 60th street causes his house to shake. Potholes only add to the raucous sounds permeating his home.

But across the street, it's music to their ears.

"We've been busy a lot in the beginning of the year," Marvin Harris said.

Harris is a tire repairman at Blue Ribbon Tires. They have a graveyard of tires outside their business from a multitude of culprits. But he says pothole season leads to an increase.

"Potholes are the worst because we always get a lot of cracked rims," Harris said. "You see, like this one right here, it hit a pothole. It just bust."

DPW urges residents to report potholes in your neighborhood. There are three ways to contact them.