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Budapest to repair 1,000 potholes a day: extreme winter left roads in record bad condition
Budapest will repair around 1,000 potholes a day as the capital battles an unprecedented surge in road damage caused by harsh winter weather, Mayor Gergely Karácsony has announced.
Road maintenance teams are now working at full capacity, including weekends and overnight shifts, in what the mayor described as an “all-out effort” to tackle the problem across the city.
According to City Hall, this winter has produced a record number of potholes on Budapest’s roads. Between 27 January and 2 February alone, more than 6,000 road defects were recorded, with nearly 2,000 reports submitted in a single day.
Forty times more potholes than usual
Karácsony said the recent extreme weather has created an “extreme situation”. Compared with an average day, the number of potholes has increased roughly fortyfold, and is still ten times higher than after heavy rainfall events.
The combination of persistent frost and significant precipitation has damaged road surfaces even in areas that previously had no issues.
“Every day we are repairing 1,000 potholes, and we are continuing to expand our capacity,” the mayor wrote on social media.
Switching to longer-lasting repairs
Until now, cold temperatures meant crews could only use temporary “cold mix” repair methods. However, the recent mild spell has allowed Budapest’s road operator, Budapest Közút, to switch to more durable “hot mix” technology, which provides longer-lasting fixes.
The company had already doubled its repair capacity earlier and has now brought in subcontractors and is working closely with district authorities to further accelerate the work. Crews are operating in both daytime and night shifts to maximise progress.
If weather conditions remain favourable, the city expects to complete a significant share of the necessary repairs by late February or early March.
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Daily updates for residents
From next week, Budapest Közút will publish a daily pothole report on the official budapest.hu website and on City Hall’s social media channels, allowing residents to follow repair progress more closely.
Meanwhile, opposition politician Dávid Vitézy has described the situation as a “pothole emergency”, arguing that the capital’s strained finances require crisis-level coordination. He has called for additional public utility companies and transport operators to assist with the repairs.