Pothole repair numbers decrease slightly in Colorado Springs

In the third year of a voter-approved expanded paving program in Colorado Springs, the number of potholes filled by crews has decreased for the first time.

According to data released Tuesday by city officials, eight weekday crews repaired nearly 4,500 fewer potholes than in 2017, which was a record year with more than 90,000 potholes filled.

The improvement is modest but a clear sign that the city has started to reverse its growing trend of potholes on streets and roads that frustrated drivers and caused damage to numerous vehicles.

More telling, officials said, is a corresponding decrease in potholes reported by the public and in damage claims filed to the city.

Some drivers are skeptical.

“I think the reason why people aren’t reporting as many isn’t because there are fewer,” a woman said. “I think it’s because people are tired of seeing them and reporting them, and they just keep on driving. I haven’t seen any noticeable improvement.”
But Corey Farkas, the city’s manager of public works and maintenance, disagrees.

“It’s true that the paving program only addresses a fifth of streets and roads,” he said. “So there are still a lot of potholes out there. But we’ve been focusing on major roads that have a lot of potholes, and we’re starting to see the difference. The potholes also are getting smaller.”

Another driver agrees.

“I’ve noticed the difference,” he said. “I’ve never seen so many construction zones before. That tells me a lot of stuff is getting fixed.”

In 2015, the year that new Mayor John Suthers successfully pushed for a sales tax increase to generate $250 million over five years for expanded paving, city crews repaired 61,000 potholes.

In 2016, the first year of the program, crews filled 64,000 potholes; the total jumped to 90,000 the following year and fell to 85,000 this year.

Public requests for pothole repairs reached almost 9,000 in 2015 and dropped to 4,300 this year.

The number of pothole damage claims filed by drivers was 548 in 2015 and fell to 32 this year.

The number of claims paid by the city were unavailable Tuesday but a city spokeswoman said payouts are rare. The city has previously said it’s not responsible for damage if crews are unaware of a pothole location.
The vast majority of potholes are found by crews or other personnel and not reported by the public, a reason why officials emphasize prompt notification of a pothole.

Suthers has said he will ask voters in 2020 to extend the sales tax for another five years, to make further progress on streets and roads.

“Garden of the Gods Road has a lot of potholes because it’s such a busy road,” Farkas said. “It’s on the 2020 paving list. Next year, part of our focus will be on Union Boulevard, north of Academy Boulevard. Dublin Boulevard also has a lot of potholes.”

The quality of some roads is so poor that they’ll be improved with separate funding from the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority. A project on the south end of Centennial Boulevard is already finished, Pikes Peak Avenue east of downtown will be improved next year and work on South Academy Boulevard is scheduled for 2020.

“People have to remember that because of our freeze-thaw cycles, we’re always going to have a certain number of potholes,” Farkas said.