Additional Funds Dedicated to Pothole Repair

Last week’s intense rainfall means one thing to City crews – potholes.

During Tuesday’s City Council meeting Mayor Cornett asked City staff to issue an emergency work order for $500,000 and solicit informal bids from private contractors to assist crews with pothole repairs.

“January’s icy weather and recent heavy rains have created potholes that need to be addressed as quickly as possible. Pushing this work order through will help expedite the much needed repairs,” Cornett said.

City crews patched 11,988 potholes in April compared to 5,775 in March.

According to Public Works Director Dennis Clowers potholes are created when water seeps into cracks in the asphalt and weakens it. When traffic drives over the destabilized asphalt the street surface cracks and sinks. “Snow and ice events followed by excessive rainfall are particularly hard on streets because the moisture gets into the base. Unfortunately that’s the nature of asphalt roadways,” Clowers said.

Residents can report potholes by calling the City’s pothole hotline at 631-1111.

I feel sorry for the street crews. This has been an especially tough year for them. It must seem like a losing battle for them to keep up with all the new potholes.

I don't feel too bad because of the way I've seen them patching. Instead of ripping our the craked aruond around the obvious hole, they've been just filling it in so that in 2 days, the hole is bigger and the patch is crumbled. I'd like to see them actually fix the potholes correctly so that they stay fixed. I know were going to have them, and I know they are time consuming to get around to, but a job done right the first time saves a lot of repeat visits later.

I feel sorry for the street crews. This has been an especially tough year for them. It must seem like a losing battle for them to keep up with all the new potholes.

Don't feel sorry for them...be glad that they have "Job Security".