Report a Pothole

The City of Columbus patches potholes across a network of roadways that consists of over 6,000 lane miles. This includes all city roadways as well as portions of State Routes 315, 33 and 104 that lie within the boundaries of the city.

What is a lane mile?

A lane mile is defined as one mile of roadway multiplied by the number of lanes in the roadway. For example, a 1-mile stretch of roadway with a total of 5 lanes would equal a total of 5 lane miles.

Pothole Patching Policy and Practice

The process for patching potholes occurs in two different ways:

1. Residents contact the 311 Service Center and notify the location of a pothole. It is important that the resident give a nearby address or intersection as this will help our crews better identify the pothole. Once the service request is made is will be forwarded to our Street Maintenance Section for scheduling and filling.
2. Separate from 311 Service Requests, our Department deploys Street Maintenance Investigators to locate and report potholes along city roadways. This proactive approach works in tandem with the 311 Service Requests placed by residents.

The Street Maintenance Section prides itself on quick and efficient response to reported potholes with an average of over 90% being filled within 3 days of being reported. It is important to remember that the staff who are responsible for filling potholes are the same individuals who plow the streets, sweep the streets, mow the right-of-way, and much more.

Cold Patch vs. Hot Patch

Hot Patching potholes is less effective in the winter months due to the extreme temperature difference between the roadway and the patching asphalt. There are some instances in the winter months where hotpatch may be more effective than the traditional cold patch but it is used more during the warmer months of the year. Used during the warmer months, hot patch is a more permanent fix to roadway potholes.

Cold Patching is a temporary fix and is predominantly used in the winter months until the pothole can be hot patched in the warmer, summer months. The lifespan of a cold patch varies and is affected by traffic volume and speed of the roadway.