NEWS

Indy to attack potholes with hot mix

John Tuohy
john.tuohy@indystar.com

Work crews will span Indianapolis on Friday with hot-mix asphalt to patch hundreds of potholes.

The Department of Public Works said 10 to 15 crews will work five days a week. The Mayor's Action Center has received more than 3,400 pothole complaints this year, significantly fewer than the roughly 11,000 it had at the same time last year.

Public Works spokesman Scott Manning said crews have already repaired 2,013 potholes but that was with unheated cold-patch asphalt. Companies that make the asphalt generally wait until an abundance of orders build up closer to construction season before they fire up the hot mix, Manning said.

City crews have been filling potholes within 3.3 days of getting a complaint at the Mayor's Action Center.

"We are making great progress in filling potholes this spring, but we need Indy drivers to help us identify all of the locations where work needs to be done," Public Works Director Andy Lutz said in a prepared statement. "The switch to hot-mix asphalt, along with more than $34 million in planned street resurfacing, allows DPW to address as many potholes as possible."

Drivers can report potholes to the MAC at (317) 327-4622 or use the RequestIndy mobile app and find potholes at the Indy Pothole Viewer at indy.gov/indypotholeviewer.

Call Star reporter John Tuohy at (317) 444-6418. Follow him on Twitter: @john_tuohy.