The shift between snow, rain, and sunshine and all the plowing can create potholes on roads, especially within cities and towns. Just how are communities tackling them?
“I think about them. More problems. More money,” Kevin Soto of Hartford said.
Potholes are certainly on the minds of drivers in Hartford.
“It’s a beautiful city, but they need to do a little bit on the roads,” Mike Bucci of Boston said.
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The city’s public works department says it’s aware of the issue, especially with the swinging temperatures so far this winter.
“Whenever we have a freeze and then a thaw and then a freeze, you’re going to start to have area of pavement that buckle,” Christopher Hayes, Hartford public works director, said.
He says the city has a 311 system allowing people to call in pothole locations. His crew has recycled asphalt ready to go.
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“That allows us to create the hot patch which is what we use to fill our potholes,” Hayes said.
But how effective the patches are depends on the weather.
“We can only patch potholes when temperatures are warm enough to allow that hot patch we use to really get in and lock into those potholes,” he said.
In East Hartford, public works director Alex Trujillo says it’s business as usual when it comes to dealing with potholes.
“We’ve been fortunate that it has still been a mild winter generally speaking, both temperature and due to precipitation,” he said.
Trujillo says his crews are making sure to get ahead of the issue.
“We do have two teams out there every week chasing down the potholes, trying to be proactive,” he said.
Trujillo also says for drivers out there, if you happen to see a puddle or wet patch in the middle of the road, chances are it is a pothole and to watch out for them.
