We looked at years of pothole complaints submitted through Salt Lake City’s mobile app and found a story far bigger than rutted roads, torn tires and out-of-whack alignments.
Our review of complaints submitted from 2020 through 2022 shows east-siders are far more likely to submit repair requests through the app than west-siders. Of the 728 complaints filed citywide, only 122 — or 17% — came from the City Council districts that make up all but a narrow slice of the city’s west side.
Here are some key takeaways:
• Experts and city leaders say a digital divide, long-standing distrust of government, income differences, general knowledge of how to interact with local government and language barriers likely play a role in the west-siders filing fewer pothole complaints than east-siders.
• Nearly a quarter of city residents speak a language other than English at home. The city’s mobile app is unavailable in the most common of those — Spanish. A spokesperson for Mayor Erin Mendenhall’s office said the city aspires to translate the app in the future but has no timeline for doing so.
• Mendenhall acknowledged there are barriers in Utah’s capital but said city crews work to ensure roads are repaired equitably. About 70% of road repairs come from workers going out and finding problems on their own.
• City leaders say they want residents to let them know when they see a problem. Complaints about potholes, graffiti and other issues may be submitted through the mobile app, available on the Apple and Google Play app stores. Complaints may also be submitted through an online portal at https://saltlakecityut.citysourced.com/. For more information on how to report issues, visit https://www.slc.gov/request-report/.
Check out our full report on potholes, and see our council district-by-district breakdown of how long it took the city to wrap up repair requests.
Follow @blakeapgar