Can You Find a Bigger Pothole?

Here’s a not-so-fun fact: Potholes cost about $300 each to repair.

Another downer: Portland has a “pavement condition index” of 53 out of 100, which puts us on the cusp of poor. And that may seem high to anyone who has bottomed out their Prius on Northeast César E. Chávez Boulevard, or flattened a tire on 82nd Avenue, or sent a hubcap rolling into a bioswale on Southeast Stark Street.

Back in 2008, Portland scored 76. But to keep that rating, the city would have had to spend $100 million a year on “paving maintenance,” according to the Portland Bureau of Transportation. Instead it has spent $25 million.

To get us back to a passing grade, PBOT has launched a “pothole March madness campaign” (its words, not ours). It started March 4 and runs until the 15th. PBOT has diverted workers from other jobs to form seven pothole dream teams (our words, not theirs).

Four of those will fill holes east of 82nd Avenue, where there are “hundreds” of the hazards. Two other crews will “mill” sections of road out there, shaving away strips of pavement, laying down new asphalt, and rolling it smooth. The final crew will fill holes west of 82nd.

It’s a timely initiative. In January, the City Council voted unanimously to send voters a renewal of Portland’s gas tax on the May 21 ballot. Voters first passed the 10-cent-per-gallon tax in 2016 and renewed it in 2020. If passed again, the tax would raise an estimated $70.5 million in the next four years, money that’s badly needed because hybrids and electric vehicles are cutting into gas tax revenue that the state sends to Stumptown.

Potholes form when water seeps into cracks in the asphalt, then freezes and expands,

“After the last winter storm, our roads took a significant hit, with severe weather and studded tires and chains making existing problems way worse,” says Commissioner Mingus Mapps, who oversees PBOT. “Ensuring long-term adequate funding for PBOT’s maintenance remains my top priority.”

The city has a pothole reporting system (email pdxroads@portlandoregon.gov, or call 503-823-1700), but because we’re civic minded, we want to help. And because a picture is worth a thousand words, we invite you to send in pictures of your favorite car-destroying craters and tell us where they are.

We’ll kick off with this impressive sinkhole that a colleague found on Northeast Chávez between Hassalo and Multnomah streets. Find a worse one and we’ll send you a splendid prize (to be determined). Send your entries to newstips@wweek.com.

May the best asphalt abyss win!