Pothole? The Streets Dept. Wants to Know

The Philadelphia Streets Department is asking residents to help pinpoint the locations of potholes, as “pothole season” has officially begun.

Despite the mild nature of this past winter, the department said in a press release that potholes still form due to the thawing of moisture that has seeped into the road. Already, the city has found and repaired 4,900 potholes this year, but the Streets Department is asking resident to help it find more.

“Citizens can be our best inspectors,” Streets Commissioner Clarena Tolson said in the release.

The department stated that potholes take about three days to repair. Other road defects, such as sinkholes, cave-ins and ditches, take longer. The city provides detailed descriptions, with photos to help distinguish between the different types of defects on the Streets Department website.

To report a pothole or other defect, you can call the Streets Department Customer Affairs Unit at (215) 686-5560 or the city’s service line at 3-1-1. You can also fill out a service request form online here.

When filling out the form or calling in the defect, the department asks for the following information:

• Is it a pothole, ditch, or cave-in?
• What is the approximate size of the defect?
• Do you see or hear water in the hole?
• What is the exact location (i.e. “in the southbound driving lane at 1234 Glenwood Avenue”)

Tell us where there are potholes or other defects in Chestnut Hill. Better yet, upload a picture or tell us the location in comments and we can see if the city is already planning on fixing it, or if it has yet to be reported.