MP, Washington deals with winter road damage City turns focus from snow removal to fixing potholes, road repair

The batch of cold mix Washington city employees use to fill holes in the pavement is affectionally called 'the good stuff,” and for the last few days crews have found a good use for the mix as a lull in the weather has given the opportunity to turn focus to the streets.

While Washington maintenance and construction superintendent J.J. Bell said the Washington streets have weathered the harsh winter better than most years, plenty of potholes are popping up throughout the town. He explained the potholes are formed when moisture in the ground repeatedly freezes and thaws, causing chunks of concrete to break out. 'The good stuff” earned its name because it stays in potholes better during the winter than other mixes, which is what city crews are putting to the test. Beginning last Friday, Feb. 22, crews took a break from snow removal to work on filling holes in the streets.

'We always have potholes, that never goes away,” he said. 'This year when we plow or traffic kicks snow into the holes, they stay buried and you don't know the holes are there. We had warm weather over the weekend and 1.3 inches of rain.”

He explained the freezing and thawing cycles this winter have caused quite a few holes. Bell said so far this year Washington has seen 41 inches of snow, about 20 inches over average. He explained last year, in many cases, crews were able to just salt the roads during light snows without plowing. This year's heavy snow events have created the need to plow as much as twice a week and, by extension, spend more time removing piles of snow from the area. With the need to remove snow and the snow covering of potholes, there has been little time to work on fixing the holes.

In Mt. Pleasant, crews have also been out working to fill potholes throughout the city. Maintenance director Rick Mullin also reported inclement weather has kept city crews from addressing the holes this winter. Mt. Pleasant crews are also taking the break in the weather to repair holes.

'This is not the best time of year to work on them because if they have any water or ice in them at all, the cold mix is going to come out,” he said. 'We're trying to make them so they are at least passable for a while.”

He said crews aren't letting the holes being filled with ice or snow stop them from making needed repairs. He commented some of the holes in the streets are 'so bad they will tear up your car.” The worst ones are being filled if they have ice in them or not.

Mt. Pleasant crews have gone through at least eight tons of cold mix in the last few days making sure the roads are safe to drive.

In making the repairs, he said crews are beginning with the main streets and working out from there. He hopes by the weekend that crews will have made a nice dent in the number of potholes on the streets.

He said people wishing to report potholes can call the public works department to let crews know about them.

'This time of year, you can never get ahead of the potholes, but we are holding our own,” Mullin said.

The National Weather Service reports a wintry mix of light freezing drizzle and light snow will continue across Eastern Iowa into northwest Illinois making patchy slick spots possible. There will be a chance for at least light snow accumulations Friday afternoon and night. After the snow ends late Friday night, northwest winds of 15 to 20 mph may produce some minor drifting snow into Saturday morning. A very cold arctic air mass may produce wind chills of 15 to 25 below zero across much of the Outlook Area by early Sunday morning, and wind chills of 20 to near 30 below zero Monday morning.

Bell commented crews try to be gentle when plowing chip and seal streets, not wanting to cause any more damage to the streets than Mother Nature has already caused. He predicts the crews will put a huge dent in the number of potholes in the city before having to turn their attention back to snow removal.

'It would be nice to work through the winter, but when down below 20 and the wind is blowing 20 mph, it is no fun to be out there working,” Bell said.