Oakland crews to embark on 'pothole blitz' following intense winter storms

OAKLAND – Following a winter of intense rainfall from multiple atmospheric river storms, city officials in Oakland announced that crews would embark on a "pothole blitz" to repair roads.

Mayor Sheng Thao announced Tuesday that the city's Department of Transportation, also known as OakDOT, would focus its entire in-house roadway maintenance effort on potholes and minor repairs for the next several weeks.

The effort would begin as soon as the weather dries and continue through May 1, officials said.

"We welcome much-needed rain but we cannot deny heavy storms are bad for our streets," Thao said in a statement. "Now that spring is around the corner, OakDOT is going to focus on some TLC for our rain-battered roads."

"I want to thank our hardworking crews who will be filling potholes in every part of Our Town as we emerge from a very wet winter," the mayor went on to say.

In an accompanying Twitter thread, the mayor said intense storms of the last few months have led to larger potholes. The rains, while needed, meant crews could not perform as many repairs compared to a typical winter.

Officials said road crews would focus on repairing damage from winter storms after OakDOT assessed more than 300 reports and conducted street inspections.

"We believe this 'Pothole Blitz' will greatly benefit the Oakland Community, especially in Communities of Concern, where aging infrastructure is most susceptible to storm damage. Our goal is to significantly reduce the backlog of reported potholes by May of this year," said Fred Kelley, director of OakDOT.

Officials said repairs would be prioritized based on severity of road damage. On May 1, roads would be assessed to see if the program would continue.

Oakland residents are urged to report potholes by visiting the Oak311 website.

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