The Good News Is Little Snowfall, The Bad: Potholes

The good news: There’s been little snow to plow in Spokane city and county.

The bad news: Any money saved this winter will go toward fixing an unusually bad case of potholes and cracked pavement.

Due to repeated freezing and thawing, “a year like this can be a lot worse on our pavement than when we get a lot of snow,” said Phil Barto, head of road maintenance for Spokane County.

Crews have kept busy keeping streets clean and doing projects they normally can’t tackle until spring. But they aren’t earning the usual winter overtime pay.

“This is not the type of year our employees like,” said Barto. “They like to be out plowing snow. It’s really a very visible service to the public.”

City snowplows have stayed in the garage all but one day, said Bruce Steele, transportation department director. But trucks carrying loads of sand and de-icers have been out often, to battle ice on hills and bridges.

The unusually dry weather means the sand that is applied one day may have to be removed the next, so the city doesn’t violate air pollution standards.

Still, Steele said his department is saving money. It costs about $100,000 to clear streets after a major snowstorm, and Spokane hasn’t had any.

But there’s plenty of other uses for the $1.7 million set aside for city snow removal. If it’s not used for filling potholes, it will help pay back money borrowed from other city accounts during the “Great White Winter” of ‘92-93.

Steele warned against counting on any extra money, though. Spring is still 11 weeks away.

, DataTimes