Donning work boots, gloves and protective glasses, Atlanta’s mayor joined one of the city’s work crews to fill a handful of potholes in the Ormewood Park on Monday, ahead of his 100th day in office.
The event also marked the return of the famed Atlanta “Pothole Posse,” a program first instituted under former Mayor Shirley Franklin to speed up pothole repairs.
The goal is for crews to fill 30 potholes a day, Mayor Andre Dickens said. The city has already filled about 1,100 potholes this year, according to the Atlanta Department of Transportation.
“Their hard work often goes unnoticed,” Mayor Andre Dickens said of the city workers, some of whom have worked for the city for decades. “When you see a pothole being filled, this is hard work.”
The revived “Pothole Posse” is made up three inspectors and two two-member repair crews, though the city is working to staff a third crew.
Along with Councilman Jason Winston, who represents the Ormewood Park area, Dickens scraped asphalt into potholes and smoothed over the road in about five places at the intersection of Emerson and Palatine avenues Monday.
“I got to do it with my own hands, to see the work,” Dickens said. “I want to be able to experience what all of our employees across the city experience.”
Residents can submit a pothole service request by calling 311, going to the ATL 311 website, or notifying @ATL311 on Twitter with the location of the pothole. It will then be inspected within five business days, and repaired in an additional five days.
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