Houston says 99% of reported potholes fixed by next business day

Houston Public Works says almost every pothole reported through 311 is fixed by the next business day, but that promise collides with what many drivers feel on the ground: repeated patches, rough pavement and streets that still ride badly after crews leave.

The city’s measure is narrow. It applies to potholes reported to Houston 311, the call center that takes requests 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The city’s service guide says residents can use it to report potholes and streetlight problems, and public works says the goal is to assess and repair reported holes by the next business day. City leaders describe that speed as a point of pride. Randy Macchi, who became Houston Public Works director after joining as chief operating officer in March 2023, oversees streets and drainage, water production and distribution, wastewater treatment, and construction permitting and regulation.

Houston Public Works says the department is the largest and most diverse public works organization in the country, serving the city’s 671-square-mile footprint and more than 2.3 million residents. The department also says it has nearly 4,000 employees and an annual budget of $3.5 billion, a scale that helps explain why a simple pothole patch can still become a major civic test.

The city has used this same basic framework for years. In January 2016, then-Mayor Sylvester Turner launched a pothole initiative that said potholes reported to 311 would be assessed and addressed by the next business day. Early city data showed reports jumping from about 22 a day to more than 100 a day after the announcement, and the city said 96.05% of 329 actual potholes were assessed and repaired by the next business day in the program’s early days. A city tracker from Jan. 4 to noon Jan. 18, 2016, showed 902 potholes repaired in response to 311 requests and 2,311 more filled proactively.

That distinction matters because not every road problem is a quick fill. Houston’s own tracker says pothole filling is only a short-term fix and that some streets need more work, including replacement of street panels. That is why a reported pothole can disappear from a spreadsheet while the street still feels broken in daily use. In a city with roughly 16,000 lane-miles of roads, the gap between a fast response and a lasting repair remains one of Houston’s most visible infrastructure problems.