Government Operations Committee Hearing on Private Way Pothole Ordinance (Docket #0807) – October 15, 2026

On October 15, 2026, the Boston City Council Government Operations Committee held a hearing on Docket #0807, an ordinance to address private way potholes. The matter was sponsored by Councillors Brian Warrell and Aaron Murphy and referred to the committee on April 15, 2026. Superintendent of Street Operations Daniel Knee testified for the city, and the committee heard public testimony, including two prerecorded videos. No vote was taken; the hearing was adjourned with follow-up requests and an anticipated working session.

Discussion Items

• Lead sponsor Councillor Warrell said the ordinance is intended to add the word asphalt to the city code’s temporary-repair authority for private ways and to make the city fill private-way potholes automatically, instead of closing 311 cases after deciding whether a public-safety repair is warranted. He noted that many residents buy on private ways without understanding that they are responsible for resurfacing, sidewalks, and underground utilities, and costs can reach six figures.
• Superintendent Knee said private ways are private property and state law prohibits using public funds on private property. In practice, Public Works performs temporary repairs when emergency vehicle access, trash collection, or public safety requires it, using materials that match the existing surface: asphalt on asphalt ways, gravel or millings on gravel ways. He said potholes recur because water, runoff, and lack of catch basins are the underlying problem, and full resurfacing or reconstruction is the better long-term fix.
• Knee described the city’s betterment/PIC process for converting a private way to a public way: more than 50 percent of homeowners must petition and vote, engineering surveys and a public meeting follow, and the street must be brought to city specifications, including accessible sidewalks and 53 feet of width. Only four streets had completed that process in the past 15 years; some residents voted conversion down, such as Sharon Street.
• Councillors asked about the cost of city takeover of all private ways. Knee estimated hundreds of millions, or multiple hundreds of millions, of dollars plus significant staffing, and said engineering is already understaffed. Councillor Fitzgerald called it an extremely expensive undertaking.
• Councillor Weber noted that paving a gravel private way can change drainage and push water into basements. Knee said asphalt is not appropriate on gravel surfaces because gravel moves with saturation and freezing; he also described Grove residents’ resistance to city work and an EPA complaint about millings that was not sustained because millings are an accepted roadway material.
• Councillor Flynn asked about the 311 pothole process. Knee said cases come in as pothole even though the department internally treats them as roadway defects; cases on private ways are often closed with an abutters-are-responsible notice, but supervisors may still patch if a fire truck or ambulance needs access. The city does not bill residents for those public-safety pothole repairs.
• The committee discussed ADA and legal implications: permanent resurfacing by the city would trigger ADA accessibility and full city-spec requirements, while private abutters resurfacing their own private way would not trigger those obligations but would receive no city cost share. A state-law threshold of up to 25 percent was mentioned, and the committee noted the metric was unclear.
• The chair asked for follow-up data on average asphalt patch lifespan and citywide cost to fill currently unfilled private-way pothole complaints. Knee said asphalt is durable for 20 to 30 years absent underlying water or utility problems, but the pothole material is a finer tennis court top mix, not roadway asphalt. He agreed to try to produce cost information, cautioning about data accuracy.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Doug Woodhouse, a Roslindale private-way resident, supported the proposal. He described severe potholes, dangerous winter ice, postal service interruptions, risks to elderly residents and children using BPS door-to-door bus service, and repeated tire damage. He said his neighbors likely cannot afford to maintain the road themselves.
• Feen Balomilee, a Dorchester private-way resident speaking by prerecorded video, supported the ordinance as a step in the right direction, while stating the city should ultimately resurface and completely replace private ways in disrepair. She cited safety, standing water, and vehicle damage concerns and said residents are taxpayers who use their streets alongside nonresidents.
• Nancy Allio, a Stella Road resident since 1988, supported Docket #0807 but said it is only the start. She argued that private ways are heavily trafficked by the public, developers historically shifted costs onto homeowners, and current residents should not pay twice through taxes and private repairs. She proposed creative financing, such as a dedicated tax fund, and changes to outdated laws.
• Rick, co-leader of the Mount Hope Canterbury Neighborhood Association, supported the ordinance as a step forward. He said the neighborhood has 10 private roads totaling 4,500 feet, only two of which are dead ends. He asked whether the city could repave such roads and build asphalt curbs to manage runoff without installing sidewalks, and whether that could avoid state-law problems.
• Shirley, a Union Avenue private-way resident in Jamaica Plain for 33 years, raised broader private-way service gaps: police response, illegal dumping, towing disputes, and pedestrian safety near English High. She recommended assessing and prioritizing the worst private ways and exploring creative hard-pack surface alternatives beyond asphalt. She said potholes were not her biggest issue.
• Chris Arena, a Grove homeowner for six years, supported a collaborative middle-ground solution. He described an ambulance having difficulty reaching a resident due to deep potholes on Linden Road, mail delivery problems, and a dead tree in the roadway that neighbors had to handle. He said the PIC process requiring 50 percent participation is hard in the Grove and urged solutions that activate willing neighbors.

Key Outcomes

• No motion or vote was taken; the hearing was adjourned.
• Superintendent Knee was asked to provide a follow-up estimate for filling currently unfilled private-way pothole complaints, annual maintenance costs, and a ballpark citywide reconstruction figure based on private-way mileage.
• Lead sponsor Warrell said he would pursue a working session, consider amendments and creative options, and explore whether state law allows defining temporary fix more broadly, including potential resurfacing or a separate PIC track.
• The committee also agreed to take up legal questions raised in testimony, including the possibility of city repaving with runoff curbs but without sidewalks.