Acting Buffalo Mayor Christopher Scanlon promised to develop a month-long effort to repair potholes across Buffalo. That work has begun, but it adds another chapter to city's history and its leaders who try to tackle the longstanding issue of potholes.
“We're launching an enhanced, month-long repair effort to address the road conditions here in the city of Buffalo,” Scanlon said.
Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon is making a promise many in City Hall have made. Buffalo has a history of promises aimed at the city's pothole problem. Multiple mayors and even governors have set high goals fueled by ambition and hope alone.
Time travel back to the late 90s, when Mayor Anthony M. Masiello was mayor. Potholes back then were an issue, and he created a program that wouldn't only fill potholes but also aimed to heal the community. The Operation Clean Sweep program primarily started as a law enforcement initiative, but grew into a collaborative community-based program that still exists today.
Mayor Byron Brown had ideas and plans to save the city from its persistent road issues. Potholes annually cause around $3 billion in damages across the United States, and according to AAA, on average, $600 is spent on pothole damages per car. It was essential for Mayor Brown to do something to help Buffalonians save their cars and wallets.
“We also do the weekend blitzes, which gives us the opportunity to fill potholes when there's less traffic on the roads, less traffic on the Main Street,” Brown previously said.
In 2007, Mayor Brown announced his new policy on the issue. The policy guaranteed that crews would fill all potholes within 24 hours after receiving complaints, through the Pothole Repair Guarantee Program. At a CitiStat meeting the same year, Brown said the policy was for people to report potholes by calling the mayor's complaint line. First Deputy Mayor Steven M. Casey had a backup plan if the 24-hour guarantees didn't excel, saying the mayor would be shoveling and patching potholes. This "backup plan" was meant to showcase how confident officials were at the start of this policy. By 2010, the 24-hour guarantee had turned into a 48-hour guarantee.
Many voices from within the community decided to share the concerns regarding potholes overtaking their city.
“Every winter, I'm navigating new potholes that show up. I'm also navigating terrible cold patch jobs that the city does that they seem to have to reinvest in year after year. The problem just seems to get worse. So yeah, it's pretty awful,” a concerned resident said.
Two residents walking down Elmwood say they love the beauty of Buffalo, but potholes are an elephant in the room.
“When we see neglect, I don't want to sound angry, because that's a little too harsh, but it hurts us, because this is our home.”
With Buffalonians becoming increasingly frustrated with Buffalo's bluff about fixing potholes, many have turned to finding their own solutions.
In 2018, Students at the University of Buffalo and researchers from China's Chang'an University teamed up to create a new way of tracking potholes in a more proactive way. The project was called ePave; and was to utilize small sensors in the road that would measure ground pressure, providing data to catch the most at-risk areas for potholes before they become a problem. Beyond a published study, updates have dried up from project leaders.
Under Scanlon’s leadership, crews have been out and about patching potholes. His $17 million “Pothole Blitz” draws from the city’s operating budget. But like a lot of past efforts, Buffalo State Urban Planning Professor Jason Knight says the investment is a temporary fix.
But what is a long-term solution?
“Effectively complete street resurfacing and taking down the top layer of older asphalt, and then fixing any of the underlying subbase issues that exist under those potholes,, and then laying down an entirely new road,” Knight said.
Knight says resurfacing isn’t something that takes up a huge amount of time.
“They can go down one side and back the other side and tear the road up, and probably a day or so, and then come back and pave it in a day or so. So, it just depends on how long it is. It’s not a massive construction undertaking where you’re literally ripping up an entire road and building a brand-new road, you’re literally just taking the top off and resurfacing,” Knight said.
The bigger cost, especially with the state of city finances stretching across three mayoral administrations, has been money.
“The city has a severe, undeniable financial problem, and that financial problem does not allow them to invest that kind of money in long-term fixes, and instead, forces their hand in the short-term fixes,” Knight said.
Potholes have even made their way into campaigns for the upcoming mayoral election.
State Senator Sean Ryan, who is endorsed by the Erie County Democratic Committee, says Scanlon’s pothole blitz is a start.
“It’s a good start, the problem is, it's been years of neglect, and after you neglect a problem for years. It takes a long time and more money to fix it. Buffalo has to address all its problems, and they need to get out of the ostrich mentality of pretending that problems don't exist,” Ryan said.
Federal aid under the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Surface Transportation Program is available for street resurfacing, but only main roads are eligible. Meaning state, county, and local funding sources are needed for the many side streets Buffalonians call home.