Islip uses the Net to fix potholes

With roadways across Long Island littered with potholes after this winter’s record snowfall, residents  have been using any means necessary to complain about craters.

Newsday’s own pothole tracker, using the website SeeClickFix.com, has logged dozens of complaints.

One thing that stands out in a thread of e-mails on the website is how the Town of Islip’s Public Works Department has responded.

Karri Mollet, executive assistant to Public Works Commissioner Rich Baker, is set up to receive e-mail alerts when someone makes a complaint about an issue in the town and regularly responds.

In some instances, she has dispatched crews to check out affected areas.

In one case, a pothole on Hilltop Drive in Brentwood was fixed on the same day the complaint was made.

In another, “chris” complained about a crater in the middle of Johnson Avenue in Lake Ronkonkoma. It turns out Johnson Avenue is split between the Town of Islip and the Town of Brookhaven, and the pothole, a picture of which “chris” posted to the pothole tracker, is on the Brookhaven side, leaving the responsibility to fix the street to that town.

Islip sent crews to fix its portion of Johnson Avenue, and not to leave the complaint up in the air, Mollet forwarded the issue to the Town of Brookhaven Highway Department.

The pothole was fixed. Islip crews even took a photo to show that Brookhaven did the job.

“We’re trying to be a little more proactive,” Mollet said.

Where do you see potholes? Let us know on Newsday's pothole tracker.