Well, that’s one way to get the Portland Bureau of Transportation to come quickly.
Guerilla graffiti artists drew phallic images around two protuberant potholes on Northeast 21st Avenue, near Northeast Multnomah Street. Their artwork caught the attention of Portland Reddit users and nearby apartment dwellers had a bird’s eye view of the priapic murals over the weekend.
By midday Monday, in a happy ending for the neighbors, the graphic decorations were gone and the potholes were filled in, Portland Bureau of Transportation Communications Director Hannah Schafer said. Schafer conceded that the 21st Avenue potholes were prioritized for cleanup because of the graphic drawings.
But, she said, road paintings should not be a fast-pass to getting the city to address potholes and the bureau doesn’t want this to spark a trend.
“Please don’t draw on the potholes,” she said.
City crews aim to fill potholes within 30 days, Schafer said. Last year, PBOT workers filled 15,000 potholes around the city. Cleaning up paint adds an extra step for the transportation crews, she added.
The bureau asks Portlanders to please report potholes by using www.pdxreporter.org or calling 311 instead of resorting to drawings.
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