Arlington mayor touts war on potholes in state of the city speech

Mayor Jeff Williams said Arlington is a city under construction and — even with the added traffic jams — that’s a good thing.

The most work is under way on street repairs and replacements, and he continued his diatribe against potholes during his first state of the city speech to a sold-out luncheon of the Chamber of Commerce.

Williams said the city has plugged about 10,000 potholes in the past year.

“If you notice a pothole, please tell us,” Williams urged the audience of about 460 at the Arlington Convention Center. He recited the phone number and city website for action — 817-459-5400 and www.arlington-tx.com — and pointed out the pothole program cards placed at each seat.

“Our crews will be out to make a repair in just three days or less,” Williams said during his 45-minute speech.

He showed a slide of one of the city's two pothole-dedicated trucks with its bed freshly painted orange and “Pothole Repair” in white letters emblazoned on its side.

He said that a new computer app coming soon would allow users to notify the city of a pothole or other problem and attach a photo to the report.

He noted that the city is stepping up its road repair and reconstruction plan, approving a $261 million, five-year program to be funded with a package of bonds, sales tax and other sources.

Williams, who unseated longtime Mayor Robert Cluck in May, also outlined a litany of other major projects in town, including a new library adjacent to a $49 million, mixed-use development soon to start construction on the site of the razed former library building.

He said the city has invested $10.8 million in “interoperable” digital radio that would vastly improve Arlington first-responders’ ability to communicate with each other and with other jurisdictions during emergencies.

Charlie Merrill, who has owned Merrill Financial Group for 56 years, thought the speech was on point. He said he's watched Arlington grow from a town of 27,000 people to its current population of 350,000.

“It's been phenomenal,” he said. “No one ever thought what it was going to be like this.”

Williams, an engineer who has been active in the Arlington community for decades, said he looks forward to many more projects.

“In the coming year, my colleagues on the council and I will continue to build on the momentum,” he said.

This story was originally published October 21, 2015 at 4:34 PM with the headline "Arlington mayor touts war on potholes in state of the city speech."