When we dub newly-minted mayor Sylvester Turner "The Prince of Potholes," we mean it in the best of ways. Since he announced his 24-hour pothole repair initiative last week, the repair numbers have been soaring.
Between January 4 and 11, the city answered 316 repair requests with completion, as promised, in the next business day. Another 1,246 pothole were repaired through the city's own reconnaissance program. And that was before the official rollout of the program.
A release from the Mayor's office reports that the next-day pothole repair rate has reached 96 percent. And all of this within the existing budget.
“This is a priority for my administration,” Turner said in a statement. “The numbers at this early stage of the effort are impressive. We have streamlined operations and our departments are working better together as a team. The payoff is an increased performance level that our residents not only expect, but also deserve.”
The ceremonious launch next week includes introduction of a new website, and an automated customer notification process. As the mayor's office notes, no need to wait until next week to report potholes. You can download the Houston 311 app, call 311 or check-in here for the pothole repair web page.
When the website launches next week, repairs will be only 24 hours away.
