Houston homeowners hopeful for pothole fix after new mayor's promise

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A lifelong Third Ward resident, Michael Guillory has seen a lot of things come and go. But potholes seem to come and stay, like the one at the bus stop in front of his house on Wheeler.

"They're bad," he said, shaking his head. "They're bad."

Guillory said he heard Mayor Sylvester Turner's promise to fix the potholes within 24 hours of learning of about them. He's hopeful but knows it's a big job.

"That pot hole," he said, pointing to a larg hole near a bus stop on Wheeler, "has been there at least a year and a half. Two years, and they haven't started on it yet. "

There were 423 pothole repair requests to the city's helpline in December. Of those and the 125 carried over from the month before, 188 were still there when Sylvester Turner took office January 2.

But the crews are working as fast as they can. We found one crew on Memorial Drive, fixing, filling, and flattening a big bump in the road.

David Connolly lives around the corner from today's job. He says despite the extent of the issue, he has faith the new Mayor will do what he said he'll do.

"I'm glad to see that the mayor is fulfilling one of his biggest campaign promises," he said.

Back in Third Ward, Sharone Mayberry also thinks Turner can do it. He attended the Mayor's inauguration Monday. He heard the promise. He's buying in.

"You can't drive up and down the street without hitting a pothole," he said. "So I think it's great what he's about to do. He says he's gonna do it, I'm gonna keep him to his word."

Michael Guilory remains cautiously optimistic.

"He's gonna gix them," said Guillory. "But it's not gonna be done overnight."

To report a pothole, you can call 3-1-1 within the the City of Houston, go online to the city's website, or use the city's 3-1-1 application from your smart phone or tablet.