Addressed Bartholomew Street, New Orleans · October 21, 2026

A Street Problem That Had Gone Unresolved Since 2017

One resident's experience. One overlooked service request. A problem finally addressed.

View through a car windshield of a residential street with a large sheet of standing water across the roadway and cars parked on both sides.

Discovery 01 / 14

Driving down Bartholomew Street

As I was going to pick up my son from school I turned down Bartholomew and this is what I saw. The car ahead of me braves its way through this massive pool of water taking up the entire road. They realized how suprisingly deep it was and quickly tried to escape up the left side.

Close view of a large pool of murky water filling a sunken section of the street, reflecting the sky and utility poles.

Discovery 02 / 14

More than a pothole

Up close, it wasn't a pothole. A wide section of the roadway had sunk into a basin and was holding water.

A gravel road leading to a broad, water-filled depression spanning most of the street's width.

Discovery 03 / 14

A crater in the street

From this side, the scale is easier to see: the road drops into a pool that stayed there even without recent rain.

Listening 04 / 14

Since 2017

I talked with one of the residents, who told me the street had been that bad since 2017. There was already a service request for it. So instead of filing another complaint, I looked at what had happened to the one that existed.

Screenshot of service request 2026-1276109. Request type: Roads and Streets. Request reason: Street Subsidence (Sinking). Responsible agency: Sewerage & Water Board. The description says a large section of roadway has collapsed, has held standing water for weeks despite no recent rain, may indicate a failed road base or underground water or sewer leak, and requests inspection for drainage failure and subsurface damage, not just surface patching.

The request 05 / 14

Getting the category right

On the city's service request system there was a ticket dating back to 2024, and it was simply labeled as "pothole" issued to department of public works. After doing some research I found out that any sub-surface work belongs to the Sewerage & Water Board so I decided to correct it. I went to the 311 website and created Request 2026-1276109, filed under Roads and Streets as Street Subsidence (Sinking), assigned to the Sewerage & Water Board, and asks for an inspection for drainage failure and subsurface damage, “not just surface patching.”

Screenshot of the photos section of service request 2026-1276109, showing attached photo 2026-189986 of the flooded depression in the street.

The request 06 / 14

Evidence attached

I made sure it was the shot that gives them the best perspective of what we're dealing with here.

Screenshot of the notes section of service request 2026-1276109. Note 2026-832635 reads: Thank you for bringing this to our attention, we will investigate this location to determine next steps.

The response 07 / 14

The city responds

A comment gets added to the request.

Orange-and-white barricades with a Lane Closed sign across the street, traffic cones, and a large pile of sand beside the road.

The work 08 / 14

Work begins

Barricades go up. The city has taken action.

A deep excavation in the road, fenced with orange safety netting, exposing a pipe with water pooled at the bottom.

The work 09 / 14

What was underneath

It looks like what we suspected and possibly a sign of what's ahead.

The street regraded with fresh gravel, with small puddles still visible in low areas further down the road.

The work 10 / 14

Progress, but not done

The road was regraded with gravel. Better, but water was still collecting in the low spots.

A yellow Komatsu excavator parked on the street next to a wooden crate filled with white pipe fittings.

The work 11 / 14

Equipment arrives

An excavator arrives with a lot of heavy equipment, along with a pallet of new pipe fittings.

Road Closed barricades across the street, with an excavator, a loader, and a truck loaded with barricades.

The work 12 / 14

The road ahead

They need to dig underneath the crater to get to the real cause of this road failure.

Workers in high-visibility vests working in the street beside an excavator, with large sections of new pipe laid along the roadway.

The work 13 / 14

Crews in the street

Crews at work, with new sections of large pipe staged along the street. This is when things really get fixed.

The same section of Bartholomew Street, now filled with level gravel and dry, with houses and parked trucks alongside.

The outcome 14 / 14

Filled and graded

The same stretch of Bartholomew Street, from close to where the second photo was taken: filled, graded, and no longer holding water. This could be the final fill before paving.

Before and after

The same stretch of street.

Before. A large pool of standing water filling a sunken section of Bartholomew Street. — Before

After. The same section of the street, filled with level gravel and dry. — After

The larger lesson

A functioning public service system requires more than a way to submit complaints. It needs accurate information, accountability, and follow-through.

Meaningful civic action doesn’t always begin with sweeping legislation or large budgets. Sometimes it begins with listening to a neighbor, understanding a broken process, and making sure an existing system does what it was designed to do.

Good government begins with paying attention, listening to people, and following through.

If you know of a problem like this one, I’d like to hear about it. Get in touch.