BILLINGS — Billings Public Works launched a new Citizen Problem Reporter tool this week that lets anyone alert the city to infrastructure problems, from traffic signals and sidewalks to garbage and potholes.
John Maloney, the city's geographic information systems manager, said the tool is designed to collect real-time feedback from residents.
"What we're trying to do in the city is like maybe hotspot those and look for possibly how where areas that just need more attention and things like that," Maloney said Wednesday.
Watch MTN's Hannah Pedeferri go through the tool and look at reports in town:
Using the tool is straightforward. Residents click a shared link, find the location they want to report, drop a pin, and enter a few details so the city can follow up.
Like any new tool, there are some early growing pains.
"We're having some issues on the back end, like trying to get it routed to the right person, making sure that we have tracking on it and that there's activity around it," Maloney said.
But Public Works is working to address those issues.
"They're really focused on getting it managed and kind of making sure that we have a good queue that we can work through," Maloney said.
MTN News went out to check on some of the locations residents have already flagged. At South 44th Street and King Avenue West, someone reported a rough intersection — and it lives up to the description, peppered with potholes. At Rose Park, a resident flagged a bridge that sits significantly higher than the surrounding sidewalk, making it difficult for people using wheels to cross.
Issue categories include street sign concerns, water service issues, garbage, stormwater and drainage and more.
Not every report is a pothole, though. One submission suggested replacing all of Billings' roundabouts with street lights.
Despite the early technical hiccups, Maloney said residents should expect faster response times as the tool matures.
"It should be significantly faster than it has been in the past," Maloney said.
Click here to access the tool.
The tool is intended for non-emergency concerns only.
