ALACHUA COUNTY – Alachua County has doubled the number of crews assigned to patch potholes and established a dedicated email address for residents to report road maintenance problems as Public Works sifts through a backlog of repairs.
The changes come amid longstanding complaints about deteriorating pavement and potholes on county-maintained roads. Road conditions have been a persistent concern for residents, with motorists reporting vehicle damage and frustration over roads they say have continued to deteriorate faster than they are repaired.
To accelerate repairs, Alachua County Public Works has increased its pothole patching operation from two crews to four.
Three of those crews are being assigned to groups of seven or eight roads on a rotating schedule. Rather than repairing only potholes specifically reported by residents, crews have been directed to inspect and patch potholes along the entire roadway while they are there.
County officials acknowledged that the approach could mean a longer wait for some individual complaints but said addressing an entire road at once should result in more comprehensive repairs.
A fourth crew will concentrate on larger and deeper potholes reported to the county. Public Works supervisors also have authority to temporarily move crews from one road to another when conditions warrant.
The county’s ability to perform repairs can be affected by weather and asphalt availability. Alachua County does not manufacture its own asphalt and relies on local producers, meaning patching material is not always available when crews need it.
The expanded patching operation also has limitations. Public Works officials said some pavement deterioration cannot be corrected by filling potholes.
Conditions such as pavement scabbing, block cracking and alligator cracking — a pattern of interconnected cracks that typically signals deterioration beneath the pavement surface — require more extensive work, including milling and resurfacing.
Those rehabilitation projects are considerably different from routine pothole repairs and are limited to roads included in the county’s Transportation Capital Improvement Program, or TCIP.
The distinction is significant on roads where recurring potholes may be symptoms of broader pavement failure. Patching can provide a temporary repair to individual holes, but deteriorated pavement may ultimately require reconstruction or resurfacing to address the underlying problem.
Along with increasing the number of repair crews, Public Works has established a dedicated email address, rbmaintenance@alachuacounty.gov, for residents to report potholes and other road maintenance issues.
When a report is received, Public Works staff will create a service request. The Operations Unit Supervisor will then schedule the work and contact the resident with an update, according to the county.
The county’s new approach directs the three rotating crews to repair all potholes they encounter on an assigned roadway, regardless of whether each individual pothole has been reported. The fourth crew gives the department the ability to respond separately to particularly large or deep road hazards.
The effort addresses immediate maintenance needs while the county continues longer-term road rehabilitation through its capital improvement program.
Residents can track planned and ongoing transportation improvement projects through Alachua County’s online Road Projects page at https://alachuacounty.civilspace.io/en/projects/road-projects?utm_source=chatgpt.com.
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