You’ve seen them popping up all over the roads in the area. Now, the Missouri Department of Transportation wants you to let them know where they are.
MoDOT’s enhanced pothole repair initiative started Monday. The agency’s goal is to temporarily patch as many potholes as possible as quickly as possible. District engineer Ed Hassinger says that means they want the public to let them know where the worst potholes are. They’ll try to have them filled as quickly as possible, perhaps even within 24 hours.
"We really want help with identifying where those are. Hopefully we’ve gotten most of them already but they pop up every day as the weather changes and I think we’re in that weather pattern where that’s going to be a changing environment every day," Hassinger told reporters at a news conference on Monday.
Hassinger says this year is not necessarily any worse for potholes than past years. But he believes MoDot will spend millions of dollars filling them across the state.
"Right now we’re going to put an extended effort on doing this so people feel like we’re responding to what they want fixed because smooth roads are the most important thing to Missourians. They tell us that all the time. So if we get the roads smooth, then we can move on to the other things that we’ve got to do," Hassinger said.
Hassinger says motorists can report potholes by calling 1-888-ASK-MODOT (888-275-6636), on the MoDot Report a Road Concern web page, by email (comments@modot.mo.gov) or via Facebook or Twitter.
Follow Bill Raack on Twitter: @billraack