The extent of the problem of potholes in Washington, D.C. is very considerable and the respective problems in the year 2026 are especially challenging. Nevertheless, this is not to say that every aspect of the street system is in a complete state of decay.
This is more accurate to say that the failures in pavement have increased considerably due to more severe weather conditions.
The fact that the assessments of the state of the streets in the city have shown better results in recent years does not prevent numerous complaints and failures in road maintenance.
Complaints Have Surged
In 2024, the 311 system in Washington D.C. received 3,267 requests that needed to be taken care of regarding potholes. This number increased by 33% to reach 4,360 by 2025.
The trend is still on the rise as by August 13, 2026, 4,719 requests have already been received, which is 8% greater than the entire 2025 number and 44% greater than that of 2024. D.C. publishes pothole service-request information through its 311 and DDOT data systems.
The 2026 spike came after an exceptionally severe winter. There were 1,237 reports in March, while February accounted for 1,068.
Both months made up close to half of the total for the year. The main storm in January brought about 6.9 inches of frozen precipitation.
Then there were nine days totaling 233 hours when the temperature stayed below freezing – the longest such streak in the city since 1989. All this allowed water to get into cracks, freeze, expand and weaken the pavement.
During the first eight months of this year, the District received service requests totaling 928 for Ward 3; 664 for Ward 2; 662 for Ward 5 and 660 for Ward 4.
The number of requests made cannot be construed simply as an indication of quality of the neighborhood because each ward has different factors that affect the number of requests, such as miles of roads within the area, amount of traffic, reporting habits, and number of streets managed by other entities.
After the harsh weather in winter, number of complaints about potholes in D.C. has increased causing difficulty to repair crews and collecting complaints. Although overall the roads in D.C. are better than before, the fact is that because of the bad quality of asphalt and numerous utility cuts as well as the lack of infrastructure funding makes the entire network weak.
Repair Performance Is Under Pressure
According to the standard that the DDOT recommends, people should report potholes and they will be fixed in three business days. In 2025, median time between a 311 report and the resolution was about 45 hours and in about 74% of all requests, the resolution happened within 72 hours.
In 2026 the median has grown and was approximately 94 hours average and only around 40% resolutions happened within 72 hours. However, by mid-August nearly 4,700 requests had been closed, which shows that considerable work was still being done even as the system struggled with the surge of the post-winter wave.
The statistics involves an important caveat: a service request does not necessarily mean a certain pothole. Several people may report one defect and one request may encompass more than one hole.
Similarly, the term “closed” is only an administrative status; it can refer to the pothole being patched, transferred for the work of another agency, to a utility cut or to any other type of significant work being performed in the area.
Patching Is Not the Same as Fixing the Street
In a matter of about five minutes, a crew can complete a simple pothole filling job. However, this type of emergency repair is usually only a short-term solution.
The cold patch or hot mix asphalt method only repairs the surface layer, which means that the overall problem of failed pavement layers, inadequate drainage or an unstable base remain unresolved.
When cracking is prevalent, isolated patches may enter a continuous cycle. Resurfacing and milling methods are sufficient to deal with the pavement surface while reconstruction can eliminate more serious structural failures, albeit at a higher cost and with longer disruption.
In 2026, DDOT expects to resurface about 81 miles, a more lasting measure compared to patching.
Utility work causes another difficulty. Water, gas, electrical and telecommunications works are being continuously carried out, and the resulting cuts create seams in the pavement that let water seep in and cause uneven settling.
Responsibility in this field can also be split among several bodies, such as DDOT, federal agencies, the National Park Service and private utilities.
Better Overall, but Still Vulnerable
DDOT has jurisdiction over nearly 1,042 miles of roadway. According to the District, 79% of neighborhood streets are in good or excellent shape compared to 2015, when more than half of neighborhood roads and alleys were classified as either fair or poor.
In the past ten years, more than 850 miles of road has been resurfaced.
Nevertheless, saying that “79% is good or excellent” leaves an estimated one-fifth portion of local streets excluded. The averages for the overall condition of the roads may function to hide serious shortcomings in street segments that feature heavy traffic.
Moreover, the city’s plans for long-term financing reveal a gap of about $517 million in the sector of road infrastructure. Thus, the conclusion is rather complicated; Washington is on the way of achieving some improvements in the area of road transport, but the state of roads remains bad.
The rise in the number of telephone notifications about complaints and slow reaction time signal that the city experiences some problems with road maintenance.
