Crews dumped asphalt into a deep pothole at North Solomon and Conti streets in Mid-City on Friday evening as the city began to spend $5,000 granted to it by Domino’s Pizza.
The chain’s “Paving for Pizza” program brought smiles to the faces of those who watched a roller smooth the asphalt, but it also brought much-needed attention to the problems -- and solutions -- surrounding aging infrastructure, a serious problem.
“Infrastructure across the board … is a priority,” Mayor LaToya Cantrell said.
Cantrell, who was recently named vice chairwoman of the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Infrastructure Task Force, said crumbling infrastructure is not just a local problem.
“Nationally, there was a poll recently that showed infrastructure was among the people's top priority,” she said.
And in New Orleans, the city’s famously bumpy roads are a major gripe.
The “Paving for Pizza” program will help to smooth 34 streets and seven intersections across the city, though the areas are close to Domino’s franchises. Private contractors will do the jobs.
The temporary fixes of asphalt patches are slowly giving way to more permanent repairs.
Cantrell said that the city has increased its spending of $2 billion from the fed to make street repairs.
“Under our watch, it's up to 27 percent. When we got here, it was 1 percent,” Cantrell said. “And so every single day we're pushing projects out and really seeing them come to fruition.”
Cantrell said that since she took office on May 7, the city has filled 13,613 potholes. Year to date, 28,991 potholes have been filled.
Locations where potholes will be filled as part of the “Paving for Pizza” program:
300-800 blocks of North Scott Street
100 block of North Cortez Street
600 block of North Murat Street
500 block of North Alexander Street
500 block of North Hennessey Street
500 block of North Carrollton Avenue
100-300 blocks of North Bernadotte Street
North Murat and Bienveille streets
North Solomon and Conti streets
4100-5000 blocks of Conti Street
500-600 blocks of St. James Street
1600 block of St. Thomas Street
Annunciation and Race streets
Orange and St. Thomas streets
5000 block of South Liberty Street
4900-5000 block of LaSalle Street
4700 block of Loyola Avenue
4700 block of Danneel Street
South Saratoga and Bordeaux streets
South Saratoga and Upperline streets
200 block of Upperline Street
4800-5000 blocks of Clara Street
2600 block of Robert Street
LaSalle and Valmont streets
2200 block of St. Claude Avenue
1200-1300 block of Elysian Fields Avenue
4200 block of Elysian Fields Avenue
2600 block of North Villere Street
2600 block of Marais Street
1100 block of Franklin Avenue
St. Ferdinand and North Roman streets
1600 block of Painters Street
2500 block of North Derbigny Street
4800-4900 blocks of Hauck Drive
4500 block of Schindler Drive
4800-4900 block of Schindler Drive
4500-4700 blocks of Coronado Drive
4600 block of Cardenas Drive
3900 block of Downman Road
4300 block of Downman Road
4500-4600 blocks of Downman Road
4800 block of Downman Road
6700 block of Downman Road
6900 block of Downman Road
7900 block of Downman Road
7700-7900 blocks of Alabama Street
6100 block of Hermes Street