How Memphis is Fixing Its Pothole Problem

The City of Memphis is partnering with a technology company to identify and repair potholes faster using city fleet vehicles.

In Memphis city government, winter is known as pothole season. Potholes happen year-round, but seasonal rain and temperature changes cause water to seep under a street or into cracks in the asphalt. When the water freezes, it expands, creating a buckle in the asphalt and weakening the road.

The city is tackling this problem in two ways: by resurfacing more aging streets in the summer, and finding and fixing potholes faster. In 2018, the city repaired about 63,000 potholes, but only 7,000 were reported by residents. City crews regularly monitor roads for potholes, and crews are now able to respond to a reported pothole in less than two days.

For increased monitoring, the city is partnering with a technology company, which will install cameras on city vehicles. When the camera detects a pothole or future pothole, the system will automatically generate a report to be filled.

“The work ahead is massive — we have about 6,800 lane-miles of city streets, enough to drive back and forth to Los Angeles almost four times. But we are working our way through it, and we will continue to pave more streets,” Mayor Jim Strickland said during his State of the City speech.