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Rough road sees more cars with detoured traffic. How does DPW prioritize pothole filling?

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Posted at 1:05 PM, Apr 03, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-03 20:02:20-04

INDIANAPOLIS — Taking a drive along Mud Creek Road isn't exactly what you'd call smooth sailing.

"It's like the surface of the moon, it's really scary,” Rob Botzum, who lives in a subdivision off of Mud Creek Road, said.

The road is littered with crater after crater and bump after bump.

“They're pretty bad. There's a couple that you could lose your whole car in," Linda Minter, who also lives off of Mud Creek Road, said.

But what's more is residents said the road was set to be repaired months ago.

"It's horrible and it should've been fixed. It was supposed to be fixed in the fall into the winter, and it never was,” said Karen Berfield, who lives in the area.

Mud Creek Road is only one of the dozens of pothole-plastered streets in the Circle City. According to the Indy Pothole Viewer, there are potholes reported back as far as February 17 on Mud Creek Road. So how does the Department of Public Works pick and choose which roads to fix first?

Officials with DPW told RTV6: "DPW focuses its first efforts on major thoroughfares in the interest of public safety as they carry a higher volume of traffic and typically connect emergency routes. We then are able to repair secondary and residential streets."

Community members told us the road is already highly-traveled.

"We have traffic backed up all the way past our addition, all the time. And it's just never fixed,” Berfield said.

And now that 82nd Street is closed for road work, traffic is only increasing.

Kevin Minter, who lives off of Mud Creek Road joked that the traffic will get better. Then laughed. At least residents are remaining lighthearted about it. But in all seriousness, residents said they just want a fix.

"Fill the road. Fix the holes. Help!" Minter said.

There is good news for residents: DPW said they do plan to resurface Mud Creek Road this upcoming construction season.