By Connor Adams Sheets
The city has completed what it called a “pothole blitz,” during which it sent Department of Transportation workers out in droves citywide to fill the craters the long winter left behind.
The DOT dispatched 59 crews to all corners of the city Saturday, hoping to fill as many holes as possible before the Fourth of July weekend.
More than 400,000 potholes were fixed this fiscal year, breaking last year’s record of 395,000 and bringing the total since 2002 to 2.6 million.
“Thanks to the tireless work of our pothole crews, we’ve eliminated more of these public nuisances than ever following a winter of extreme weather,” said DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan in a statement.
The city budgeted $190.4 million for paving and pothole repairs this year and added $2 million in February in response to the severe winter storms, the DOT said.
Over the last four years, DOT has invested $633 million to resurface 3,600 lane-miles of streets, much of it from recycled asphalt produced at the newly acquired Harper Street plant in Queens, according to the DOT.
Reach reporter Connor Adams Sheets by e-mail at csheets@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.
