Des Moines Sun

DES MOINES, IOWA – Monday, March 13, 2023 – Members of the Streets Maintenance Division of the Department of Public Works have been hard at work patching roads during what has come to be known as "Pothole Season."

The Customer Service team has received 1,209 reports of potholes as of March 7, 2023, over twice as many as the 578 reports that were submitted last year within the same time frame. That number will surely grow following record-breaking snowfall over the weekend, and Streets Maintenance employees will once again make the quick transition from snow removal to road patching operations.

The high volume of requests is keeping crews busy as they also address their regular routes repairing the City's main roads. 

"Under normal circumstances, we're able to patch potholes within 24 to 48 hours, but that timeline drags out a bit longer while we're in this peak period," said Public Works Director Jonathan Gano. 

The added irony is that several employees will likely patch the same potholes formed when their plows cleared snow from streets over the weekend. As winter begins to give way to spring, there is a cycle of freezing and thawing that shifts and weakens pavement. Normal traffic and snowplows put further stress on the roads, eventually forming potholes that are hazardous to vehicles and the flow of traffic. With winter weather still lingering, it is not yet warm enough for the application of hot mix asphalt, a long-lasting material use in road construction. Cold mix asphalt is used during spring since it does not require any heating during patching, the downside being that cold mix never truly sets. It is a temporary fix until construction season begins closer to summer and suppliers begin manufacturing hot mix asphalt. This means that crews are likely to repair the same potholes several times over along their normal repair routes while also dealing with a lengthy backlog of resident requests and problem spots.

"As we put extra effort into working that backlog down, we ask for the public's patience. If you call in a pothole and it's not repaired within a couple days, chances are it will be within the next couple more beyond that," said Gano.

Residents can report potholes using the myDSMmobile app, online at DSM.City/Report or by calling the 24/7 Public Works Customer Service Center at 515-283-4950. 

Original source can be found here.