Buffalo's war on potholes moves into the 21st century

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN)..To address what appears to be a seasonal and never-ending pothole problem, the City of Buffalo is finally moving into the mid-21st century and using state-of-the-art data-driven technology to handle the issue.

The new technology, created and developed Somerville, Mass.-based CYVL will see its specially-designed Honda travel every city street and using AI and 3Ddata identify and rate every pothole. The work is just beginning and will take up to six weeks to complete, said Nolan Skipper, Buffalo Department of Public Works commissioner.

The data will even tell how deep and how wide the potholes are and if they will expand into an even larger size.

And, after that, the same technology will address city sidewalks and curbs.

"This is what Buffalo has been clamouring for," said Mayor Sean Ryan. "We will know what streets are the worst and how to address them."

Buffalo will be investing $14.3 million this year to address the pothole issue, with much of the funds covered by federal allocations.

Fixing potholes, sidewalks and curbs are all central to Ryan's "taking care of the basics" mayoral strategy.

"If we are going to do this, let's lead by example," Ryan said.

In years past, Buffalo had a hit-and-miss strategy when it came to attacking the seasonal pothole issue.

Using CYRL's data, it puts every street on the same level playing field. Any street with the highest (or worst pothole) rating will be addressed first, regardless of the neighborhood..

"This is about quality of life," Ryan said. "It's time to fix the damn potholes."

CYVL is being paid $430,000 with the bulk coming from a federal grant secured by the city.

CYVL was chosen from an RFP process, said Deputy Mayor Ben Swanekemp.

The company has a deep track record of working with cities and municipalities that have pothole or other infrastructure issues. Among them: Jacksonville, Cleveland and Toledo.

Ryan said this is not a "one and done" scenario. CVYL will provide annual updates.

"What we are trying to do is take the guess work out of the pothole situation," Ryan said.