MEMPHIS, Tenn. — If you take a drive along certain streets in Memphis, you can’t miss the fact that it’s a rough ride!
“Memphis is really, really out of control right now with the potholes,” said driver Eddie Phels. “It’s awful, I mean, it literally shakes your vehicle.”
Terri Hunt, who is originally from Louisiana, has lived in Memphis for decades.
“It’s horrible,” Hunt told WREG. “I can’t even enjoy driving because I’m always watching for potholes, and that’s no fun because I’ve messed up another rim in another pothole!”
That incident Hunt referred to makes two in one year.
Hunt was just one of more than a thousand people who filed a claim with the city in 2015 after hitting the first pothole back in January near Hickory Hill and Scottsdale.
The Pre-K teacher of more than 30 years had saved up and just bought her dream car.
In fact, she and a few friends were headed out to celebrate in her new Mercedes when she hit the pothole.
“We were all going out to dinner, and I hit a pothole. It was at night, and when I hit the pothole, my whole tire went into the hole,” Hunt explained.
Hunt said her car immediately shut off. The rim was cracked, and her tire burst.
The estimate for repairs with an authorized dealer was more than $1,500.
“I called 311, and then they gave me another number for the claim line,” Hunt said.
Hunt’s claim was denied.
The reason listed on documents WREG obtained, “no prior notice.”
Hunt said she emailed, sent photographs.
“I wrote back and asked why and where was my taxpayers money going?” she said.
City attorneys said if they don’t know about a pothole first, there’s no obligation to pay.
Through open record requests, WREG obtained a list of all claims filed so far in 2015.
It revealed most people who had submitted a claim had not received any money back.
In March of 2015, the city set aside $20,000 for pothole relief.
It said 1029 claims were filed in the calendar year 2015, and it approved 144.
City leaders said the average amount paid out was $150, and it actually spent just over the $20,000 earmarked.
According to those figures, that still left more than 800 drivers like Terri Hunt, footing their own bill.
Robert Knecht is the Public Works Interim Director.
His department does not handle claims, those go directly to legal.
“I’ll be honest, I think Memphis is very generous with response to that,” he said. “If you look at some cities, they rarely if ever pay any pothole claims.”
Knecht further added that some cities have policies that don’t even allow them to accept claims during inclement weather.
Hunt opted for a cheaper repair.
The pothole she hit in January was fixed in less than 24 hours, but she sent us a picture recently, revealing the same pothole is back again, which for her, showcased a bigger problem.
“I have traveled all around the world, and everybody seems to be working on their roads and their streets and their interstates and all we’re getting is patches,” Hunt told WREG.
“Obviously, you would like to re-surface them on a certain schedule. That may or may not be practical or possible,” said Knecht.
WREG sat down with Knecht to get a clear understanding of how the department prioritized potholes and repairs, along with its long range plan for improving streets.
“I believe we’re averaging about 2,000 calls, approximately 1500 to 2,000 calls from citizens for potholes,” he said.
That’s per month, and crews have been repairing double that.
Knecht also claimed calls are up 50%.
From July of 2014 to this June, Public Works filled more than 79,000 potholes.
Crews filled 24,000 in the month of March alone.
Knecht said the goal was to respond within five days.
“Most cases, though, we do the potholes within 24 hours,” he said.
We also addressed the notion that residential streets only get repaved every 50 years.
Knecht said that wasn’t quite true.
He said the “50 years” comment was based on funding from 2012, which was much lower.
Knecht told WREG, funding fluctuates year to year, so that “life cycle” changes.
Right now, it’s about 28 years.
However, to maintain that pace, crews have to re-surface a certain amount of lane miles every year, and WREG found funding rarely allows the department to reach its goal.
According to Knecht, to re-surface streets every 25 to 30 years would require crews to get to 200 lane miles per year.
Last fiscal year, funding only allowed them to get to 111.
Public Works has a Resurfacing Management Plan that runs through 2019.
It included a list of streets scheduled for re-surfacing.
Streets are graded on a scale of one to 10 (one being failing) and prioritized from there.
Knecht says major thoroughfares with lower scores take priority over residential streets.
When there’s not enough funding, streets scheduled for re-surfacing one year, get pushed to the next.
Knecht said overall, the department is committed to doing the most it can with the money, but believes Memphis’ roads, get a bad rap.
“I think we do the best we can. I’ve been to cities that are much worse off.”
However, Knecht also said he realized a city’s infrastructure speaks volumes about its priorities and progress and according to Hunt, “It’s embarrassing!”
Hunt said she believes Memphis needs to come up with a better plan, to put the brakes on the bumpy ride!
“All I’m asking, just give us some decent roads!” she said.