Milwaukee city leaders are addressing a significant increase in pothole patch requests, with 5,016 reported in the first three months of 2026, a 65% rise compared to the city’s average of 3,041 for this time of year. Drivers in Milwaukee are familiar with the challenge of navigating around potholes. “They’re just terrible. I don’t even go around the end of Adler or over here because the potholes are so bad,” Diane Szymanski, a driver, said. To help meet the demand, Department of Public Works crews are using a new asphalt hotbox donated by the Brewers. DPW crews said the equipment allows them to work faster at filling potholes. “It allows crews to better control the temperature of the asphalt, which leads to stronger, longer-lasting repairs,” Kevin Muse, city of Milwaukee engineer, said. “It gives us more flexibility when we can use hot mix. Asphalt allows us to carry more material at once and better use recycled asphalt,” they added. City leaders said they have completed about 4,200 service calls to fix potholes so far and believe the new machine will help alleviate the need across the city. “We are now north of 10,000 service calls in 2026, which is more than we received in all of 2024 and all of 2025,” Muse said. DPW plans to prioritize repairs on heavily traveled roads before moving to secondary streets. Crews will assess the hazard level of potholes to determine which ones need to be filled first. “We’re also bringing in crews from across DPW beyond our core street maintenance team who are volunteering for overtime to work second shift and also work on Saturdays,” Muse said. Milwaukee crews are working overtime to make the city’s streets smoother for drivers.

MILWAUKEE —

Milwaukee city leaders are addressing a significant increase in pothole patch requests, with 5,016 reported in the first three months of 2026, a 65% rise compared to the city’s average of 3,041 for this time of year.

Drivers in Milwaukee are familiar with the challenge of navigating around potholes. “They’re just terrible. I don’t even go around the end of Adler or over here because the potholes are so bad,” Diane Szymanski, a driver, said.

To help meet the demand, Department of Public Works crews are using a new asphalt hotbox donated by the Brewers. DPW crews said the equipment allows them to work faster at filling potholes.

“It allows crews to better control the temperature of the asphalt, which leads to stronger, longer-lasting repairs,” Kevin Muse, city of Milwaukee engineer, said.

“It gives us more flexibility when we can use hot mix. Asphalt allows us to carry more material at once and better use recycled asphalt,” they added.

City leaders said they have completed about 4,200 service calls to fix potholes so far and believe the new machine will help alleviate the need across the city.

“We are now north of 10,000 service calls in 2026, which is more than we received in all of 2024 and all of 2025,” Muse said.

DPW plans to prioritize repairs on heavily traveled roads before moving to secondary streets. Crews will assess the hazard level of potholes to determine which ones need to be filled first.

“We’re also bringing in crews from across DPW beyond our core street maintenance team who are volunteering for overtime to work second shift and also work on Saturdays,” Muse said.

Milwaukee crews are working overtime to make the city’s streets smoother for drivers.