City Of Taylor Rolls Out Aggressive Program To Repair Potholes

TAYLOR, Mich. (WWJ) - When it comes to potholes, the city of Taylor is putting its road repair money -- where its mouth is.

During a trip to the city of Taylor on Monday morning, resident Carl Benton directed WWJ's Ron Dewey's attention to the front left tire of his van, which had been on the wrong side of a pothole while he was driving in Taylor recently.

"See how my rim is dented out from a pothole," Benton said. "It smashed my rim right in, causing it to bubble; cost me $30.00 to have that rim bent back out.

The mayor of Taylor, Rick Sollars, wants to make instances like this less frequent under a new program where residents and drivers tell them where the potholes are through the city's Facebook pages or with a phone call to City Hall. After the city learns about the pothole, they will fill it within 48 hours.

"The last time I looked, we had over 400 potholes reported in our community," Sollars said in a message posted on the city's website. "Now that we're heading toward spring, our goal is to fill all of these holes – or at least all of the most dangerous ones – within the next two weeks. Our goal is a 24- to 48-hour response to each new complaint (within) … two business days. Naturally, we can't be precise in this type of situation, but we want to be responsive. In two weeks, we want to have made a significant difference in our roads' situation."

Given the extent of the problem, with 400 potholes already reported around Taylor, Downriver drivers are telling Dewey that a 48 hour-turnaround isn't quite quick enough.

For more information on the pothole program, call the Taylor Customer Service line at (734) 287-6550 or send a message via the city's Facebook pages: Taylor Community Pothole Program, Taylorcity or Taylor Municipality.