For some Houston drivers, seeing Houston public works crews working on a pothole Thursday morning on Wayside Drive was a welcomed sight. A problem some of them say they deal with far too often.
"A rollercoaster," driver Erik Espinal explained. "You've got to swerve. You've got to be careful when you're riding out here. Bad streets, man. Unfortunately."
Wayside Drive, near 610, was identified as a trouble spot by SkyEye on Thursday morning. Drivers told ABC13 that the pothole left them with blown tires.
The repair shop down the street replaced several tires over the last two days. The owner said the vehicles had large gashes in the tires. An issue that attracted city crews to the street.
ABC13's cameras captured workers filling the pothole. The pothole was reported to 311 the day before. Information on the city's pothole tracker states it makes repairs by neighbors letting them know, and by their crews proactively filling them.
Data shows that about an average of 1,000 neighbor reports are made a year, but city crews usually find a lot more on their own. However, the figures show those numbers have dropped.
In 2019, the figures show city crews proactively filled 87,801 potholes. The following year, it dropped to 81,947. By 2021, it had declined to 64,822. In 2022, the data shows crews proactively filled 70,684 potholes. In 2023, the number dropped to 54,270. Houston Mayor John Whitmire's office said last year that crews proactively filled 51,568. According to the tracker, that's the lowest number of proactively filled potholes since 2018.
ABC13 asked the mayor's office about the decline.
They told ABC13 there are fewer potholes for their crews to fill due to improvements made to resurfacing projects, and millions spent in stormwater projects.
They went on to say in previous years they had a number of repeat potholes, but have fixed this issue with improved materials and equipment.
"Houston has the worst streets," Espinal said. "You can't have good tires. You can't have a good suspension. Nothing is going to last you, man."
Which is why some drivers like seeing crews making repairs, but would like to see it even more often.
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