(The Center Square) – Seattle continues to overspend on filling potholes as the city’s backlog of roads that need fixing totals more than $2 billion.
In a Tuesday presentation to the Seattle Transportation Committee, the Seattle Department of Transportation said that the city has a large backlog of unfunded paving needs, totaling $1.8 billion for arterial streets in need of reconstruction. In addition, the city currently has a backlog of $460 million worth of roads in need of rehabilitation.
However, SDOT Interim Division Director Elsa Tibbits notes that the city’s recent voter-approved $1.55 billion transportation levy provides new funding for continuing pothole efforts. With the levy dollars, the city’s pothole budget from 2025 to 2032 averages $41.25 million a year, or $330 million in total. That’s up from $250 million under the last levy.
“With the increased funding for our [Arterial Major Maintenance] crew paving projects – we can increase our response to stitch the areas of distressed street segments to extend the life for two to five years versus the 20 years of reconstruction,” Tibbits said during the Transportation Committee meeting.
Seattle’s arterial streets have 1,153 lane miles of roads to maintain, with the city typically filling 15,000 to 25,000 potholes a year, according to Tibbits. Repairs cost about $152 per pothole, in addition to the conditions already outlined, other factors like material and labor costs influence the cost per repair.
Since 2020, SDOT’s expenditures on potholes have increased from $3.8 million in 2020 to a five-year-high of $5.68 million in 2022. Last year, the city spent approximately $5 million on repairing potholes.
Tibbits noted that expenditures on pothole repair have exceeded the budget consistently over the last five years. As a result, through the 2023 budget, SDOT was approved to add an additional $1.3 million in budget from the Seattle Transportation Benefit District Fund, backed by vehicle license fee revenues, to establish a higher baseline budget for pothole repair going forward.
The city’s need exceeds the allocated budget, but SDOT is pointing to progress on its goal of responding to reports of potholes within 72 hours. The department is informed of any potholes through any reports made on the Find It, Fix It app.
Last year, 90% of reported potholes were filled within 72 hours of the report, according to SDOT.
Seattle City Councilmember Dan Strauss notes communication challenges he’s witnessing between the city and residents in regards to street repairs. In one case, an individual had repeatedly submitted complaints through the Find It, Fix It app for a significantly large pothole. But Strauss said the city never responded, because the hole did not fit into the city’s definition of a pothole.
“To a common person, they just see a hole in the road that’s going to mess up their axel,” Strauss said. “You’re out there doing good work, but we need to be better about communicating with the public.”
