Photo by armandlione.

Councilmember Mary Cheh will hold a hearing tomorrow on a bill that would allow the city to delegate street maintenance to Business Improvement Districts. But the Ward 3 politician will also use the time to ask the D.C. Department of Transportation about the condition of city streets and potholes.

“I’ve been getting persistent complaints from constituents — and not just from Ward 3, from people around the District — about road conditions,” Cheh said by phone. “And it’s not just a problem for cars, it’s also a problem for cyclists. It’s bad enough when you’re on your bike and you have to deal with streets without lanes and other issues, and then there are also these holes and crumbling pavement.”

Cheh said she wants to “touch base” with DDOT to get their take on the condition of D.C.’s roads and ask how said conditions are being monitored. There are also major projects coming up, including the burying of power lines, that will impact roads. “I want to know what’s being done to coordinate and who’s responsible for putting the road back in its original condition,” Cheh, the chair of the Council’s transportation committee, said.

Since July 1, seven potholes been reported on SeeClickFix, which works with the city’s 311. One reported on July 2 reads, “THIRD TIME I MADE THIS REQUEST. THEY KEEP CLOSING WITH NO ACTION. PLEASE FIX!!” Cheh said she wants to share with DDOT complaints she’s heard that 311 is “unsatisfactory.”

Tomorrow’s hearing will also cover the Public Space Maintenance Contracting Authorization Amendment Act, co-introduced with Ward 1’s Jack Evans. Cheh said the Georgetown and downtown BIDs have been most “keen” on the legislation, which would allow D.C. to delegate road maintenance and repairs to these neighborhood organizations.

“They’ve done a great job maintaining the public spaces,” Cheh said of the Georgetown and downtown BIDs. “That sort of decentralized and straight-on attention to their areas would be welcome. I think it would help us out.”

Indeed, while D.C. is doing well in many areas, Cheh said roads in certain areas are “like the surface of the moon.”

“It doesn’t reflect on a city that believes it’s really on top of its public space.”