Philadelphia Sending More Money to Street Repair

Mayor Michael A. Nutter’s recent budget proposal for the city of Philadelphia includes a 33 percent increase in funding—from $12 million to $16 million—for the Streets Department paving budget. The extra funds will allow the department to “resurface 56 miles of city streets and install 533 ADA-approved curb ramps,” according to a recent report by Christine Fisher. 

In a helpful bit of insight into how Philadelphia gets the business of street repair done, pothole repair is relatively cheap, according to Fisher, because the Streets Department uses its own labor to do repairs. “Each pothole costs about $22 to fix and is paid for with capital dollars from the paving budget. If the department repairs an additional 10,000 potholes, that costs about $220,000...” 

The Streets Department has already repaired more than 12,200 potholes this winter.