“Conehead Guarantee?” More Like Buffalo’s Pothole Guarantee…

It’s back: pothole season is among us in Western New York, but don’t fret! It looks like the City of Buffalo has come up with an effective solution. 

It seems like even when we report these potholes, they remain untouched for a while, but that is not going to be the case this year. 

The City of Buffalo is promising a 48-hour pothole guarantee. The potholes will be fixed within 48 hours of your initial report to 311, or your online submission via this online form. After you report a pothole, it will be logged in the system and a crew will be dispatched to the area shortly. 

Historically, we tend to see more potholes around this time as winter transitions into spring. Nathan Matron, the City of Buffalo DPW Commissioner, told WGRZ that “less than half the calls that we had last year for potholes.” Hopefully that means there will be less potholes to deal with this year, but only time will tell. 

I will say – last time I reported a pothole, which was only a few weeks ago, it was fixed in a day. 

Crews are looking forward to using the dry weather to their advantage in fixing the pothole problems around Western New York. Usually, a single crew can attend to 10-20 potholes per day. 

If you notice a pothole because it damaged your car, you may not have to worry about the expenses; as long as you take pictures of your car and the pothole in question, the city claims department may be able to reimburse you for the damages. 

To report potholes on state-owned highways, you can call 1-800-POTHOLE. For state-owned highways, you can also file a claim for up to five thousand dollars to help cover expenses.