Road crews filled more than 4,500 potholes across Portland so far this year, according to city officials, but that doesn't mean streets will be any less bumpy or in significantly better condition overall.

"While patching potholes is a fundamental part of PBOT's maintenance work, it's not the most cost effective or strategic approach," Dylan Rivera, Portland Bureau of Transportation spokesman said in a statement.

Nearly one-third of those road hazards were filled in a two-week span last month, as crews patched some 1,445 potholes at more than 350 locations across town.

This year's winter weather provided a reprieve compared with the snow that dominated 2017. Last year, crews filled more than 15,000 potholes, almost double the typical workload.

"Potholes are a symptom of a failing street," Rivera said. "They can be prevented with regular preventive maintenance that keeps the pavement in fair or better condition."

Dating to the Charlie Hales and Steve Novick era, Portland transportation officials have set a goal of 100 lane miles of annual paving and preventative maintenance. Rivera said the agency tracks the progress based on the fiscal year from July to June.

"We accomplished the 100 miles just a few weeks after June 30, 2017, which is amazing given all the potholes and snow and ice response our crews had to deal with in the first half of 2017," he said in an email.

Just how bad are Portland's roads right now?

Inside the Maintenance

The city treated 101 miles of streets in 2016-17:

- 41 lane miles: Grind and pave projects, where the top layer of asphalt was removed and replaced with a new layer of asphalt and new stripes and other markings

- 17 lane miles: Crews applied a sealant to cracks in the street surface on major arterials, to keep water out and prevent potholes from forming

- 37 lane miles: Fog seal treatment that extends the life of residential streets.

- 6 lane miles: Base repairs to replace the rock base and the asphalt street surface.

(Info from PBOT)

According to its most recent report published in October, 47 percent of major roads are in poor or very poor condition. Residential streets are worse, with 60 percent of the 2,983 lane miles of local roads in poor or very poor condition.

Portland would need to spend $141 million every year for a decade to meet its goal of 80 percent of major streets and 70 percent of residential streets in fair or better condition, according to the report.

None of this is new to Portlanders who may recall the street fee saga of 2013 and 2014.

That saga led to the temporary 10-cent-a-gallon gas tax approved by voters in 2016.

The city does have 19 street maintenance projects starting this spring totaling $20 million, paid for by the gas tax and a separate 2016 tax on commercial trucks weighing more than 26,000 pounds.

Here's a breakdown of a few of the paving projects (a total project list is available here)

Northeast 102

Southeast Foster from 82

North Going Street from North Interstate to the I-5 onramp (begins in mid-June)

Southeast 50

Southwest Vermont from Oleson to Capitol Highway (starts in early June)

Southwest Capitol Highway from Multnomah to Texas (starts in mid-August)

-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen