If your ride to work is still a little bumpy, you are not alone. City of Tampa public works crews are racing to fix hundreds of potholes left behind weeks after massive flooding.
Report a City of Tampa Pothole
The pothole problem seems never-ending to many Tampa drivers.
“It’s really annoying," one driver told ABC Action News.
Every time Tampa driver Rafael Torres hits the road, he prepared for the same thing.
“All these roads are just bumpy," Torres said. “Bump bump bump bump.”
The City of Tampa has repaired 2,640 potholes from July 24 through Sept. 9. 616 Total pothole work orders generated 07/24 through present. The city has closed 513 Total pothole work orders. However, more than 100 total pothole work orders remain open. Typically, the City of Tampa receives 170 requests for pothole repairs during a normal summer week.
But it can be hard to make progress because for every one pothole workers get called out to, they usually find three to five more than need repair, said Jean Duncan, Transportation Manager at City of Tampa
‘So that takes a little extra time," Duncan said.
Duncan said public works crews are aiming for a 72-hour turnaround time from the time a pothole is reported to the city to when it is fixed. She said the city has extra crews on the ground to handle the surge in pothole reports.
But Duncan said the city of Tampa is also still coping with hundreds of road depressions, which are tougher to deal with.
“Those waste water depressions actually take a lot longer to fix," Duncan said. "There’s pipes that need to be repaired and replaced where the potholes, we typically just fill in the asphalt and we’re good to go.”
So now the city of Tampa is asking for drivers patience as they work to fix the potholes and depressions as quickly as possible. Duncan said crews can tackle up to 40 potholes per day. The city also will have extra public works crews out on repair calls throughout next week.
However, she said drivers should still watch for barricades that will be set up on roads for weeks to come. Drivers are most likely to find them in areas where flooding was the worst.
“So we ask people to be very cautious still while you’re driving around," Duncan said.
But drivers like Torres are hoping the pothole repairs come sooner rather than later.
“To me, it’s very frustrating. Because you know, you try to watch the traffic but at the same time, you have to keep an eye on the holes," Torres said.
