(Washington, DC) The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) filled more than 5,000 potholes during its third annual Potholepalooza campaign which came to an end on Thursday, April 21. During Potholepalooza, which Mayor Vincent C. Gray launched on March 21, DDOT crews expedited repairs reported by District residents and commuters.

“We had a much milder winter compared to last year and as a result we didn’t get as many potholes reported to us during Potholepalooza,” said DDOT Interim Director Terry Bellamy, “But that’s good – that means our roads are in better shape.”

In 24 working days, DDOT’s Street and Bridge Maintenance Branch received 1317 service requests for pothole repairs and filled 5201 potholes. By comparison, DDOT received more than 1,800 service requests during Potholepalooza in 2010 and filled 7,690 potholes following the snowiest winter ever recorded in
the District:

During Potholepalooza, DDOT dispatched multiple crews and “pothole killer” trucks each day to make repairs, and they filled an average of 216 potholes a day. Residents, motorists and cyclists participated by reporting road damage online, by phone, by email and via Twitter. Many of the requests were for multiple potholes in the same location. Daily progress updates were posted on DDOT’s website at ddot.dc.gov/potholes.

Crews worked to fill the reported potholes within 24-48. However, in some cases the reported road damage may require more extensive repairs that will take additional time to complete.

Although the campaign is now over, people are encouraged to continue to contact DDOT to report potholes or make other service requests. There are a variety of ways to do that: 1) call the Mayor’s Call Center at 311, 2) use the On-line Service Request Center at 311.dc.gov, or 3) text message/Tweet to www.twitter.com/DDOTDC .