Potholes popping up on roadways; state and city working to patch them up
One consequence of the cold, snowy and icy weather that hit central Illinois over the past few weeks is beginning to make an impact on roadways: those pesky potholes.
Thankfully for motorists, both the city of Springfield and the Illinois Department of Transportation have teams out on the roads attempting to patch those holes and keep people safe.
IDOT says that the majority of their road crews are out trying to patch those holes along state roads and interstate highways throughout Illinois. Paul Wappel, spokesperson for IDOT, says that the agency is trying to take advantage of relatively warmer temperatures to ensure that roads remain clear.
"There are a lot of them at this time of year," Wappel said. "We've been out and about since the last winter weather event ended trying to take advantage of the warmer temperatures and trying to patch as many potholes as we can."
Potholes are created during freeze-thaw periods when moisture from water seeping into pavement shifts or breaks asphalt or concrete. People driving over the broken surfaces exacerbate the problem, causing holes of various sizes to be created.
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In Springfield, Public Works Director Dave Fuchs says that three different crews have been out continuously since snow duty ended last week patching those holes, working overtime to fix problem areas on the city's main arterial roads. A lot of coal patch is being used to fill in those problem spots, with 70 tons of patching material having been used in the past 10 days.
"We've fielded about 50 complaints currently," Fuchs said. "The main arterials where we're working (have problems). That would be (like) 5th and 6th streets from one end of the city to the other. More traffic, more cars, more potholes."
With many of those arterial roadways comes a decision as to who patches the roadway: city workers or those with IDOT. Fuchs says that they've got a good relationship with their friends at the state, communicating well with each other when repairs need to be done.
"We communicate well with them and they communicate with us," Fuchs said. "If anything comes to us that would be in their jurisdiction, we'd be glad to pass it along. They let us know when they're working, where they're working and we try to do the same thing. It's a good working relationship, it really is."
Wappel and Fuchs say that eyewitnesses are important to providing a good count of how many potholes need to be fixed. Call 1 (800) 452-IDOT (4368) to report a pothole on a state roadway.
Fuchs recommends that people use Public Works' Report a Problem tool on their website, or give them a call at (217) 789-2255 to report any potholes. Fuchs says that if they do manage to run into a pothole out on the roadways, they should slow down and not try and switch lanes too quickly to avoid them.
"This is the season of the pothole," Fuchs said. "When you're trying to move along, don't veer quickly out of your lane into another lane just to avoid hitting a pothole. You want to slow down, you want to break, but you don't want to go into the next lane just to miss a pothole. We want everyone to be safe and slowing down in this season of the pothole is the best thing you can do."
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IDOT says that with brief lane closures expected, people should take extra time when driving along those roadways and give workers space to do their work. Wappel said that people driving should understand that at this time of the year, potholes are something that everyone will have to deal with.
"Potholes are going to happen, especially after the weather we've had," Wappel said. "We anticipate that happening and we're always ready to go out patching potholes."
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: IDOT, Springfield crews patching up potholes following winter weather
