Pothole battle begins as weather warms

In the news

One never knows in northwest Missouri, but spring has apparently arrived, which means city street workers and state highway crews are out repairing potholes.

Municipal Public Works Director C.E. Goodall said Tuesday that unseasonably warm weather has allowed the city to get a head start on small-scale street repairs, and that the relatively mild winter means few significant issues have developed over the past three months or so — the time during which freezing and thawing generally does the most damage.

Goodall said anyone who encounters potholes should call the department at 660.562.8012 so the location can be added to the list of needed repairs.

“We haven’t had a lot of additional deterioration (since last fall),” Goodall said, “But we still have a lot of issues to address.”

Meanwhile, the Missouri Department of Transportation kicked off a pothole repair initiative Tuesday that is scheduled to continue through the rest of the month.

According to MoDOT officials, maintenance crews are attempting to repair potholes with asphalt patches as soon as possible after they are reported.

“We want to get asphalt in the hole as quickly as possible,” said State Maintenance Engineer Becky Allmeroth. “If you report it in the morning our goal is to repair it before you drive the same road the next business day.

“We know our aging infrastructure is prone to potholes this time of year, and we are making efforts to keep our roads as safe and smooth as possible.”

Motorists can report pothole locations by calling the agency’s customer service line at 888.275.6636 or filling out a mobile-friendly Report a Road Concern form at www.modot.org/roadconcern. Address emails to [email protected].

MoDOT spends approximately $15 million a year on pothole patching, most of it in March.

“On any given day in March, it would not be unusual to have 300 pothole patching crews on our state roadways,” said Allmeroth. “Please watch out for them and move over a lane to give them room to work.”

Potholes form when temperatures rise during the day but continue cold at night. Rain and snow leave moisture that seeps into pavement joints and cracks, and when temperatures drop this moisture freezes and expands, causing bulges and cracks.

As cars drive over the bulging pavement, the weight eventually causes chunks of concrete or asphalt to pop out, forming a pothole.