Pothole patching is sticky business

Thoughts may turn to love and potholes in springtime, but that doesn’t mean either goes away in winter. And the two certainly don’t go together any time of year.

In between plowing and de-icing, street maintenance crews are still out plugging holes this time of year, albeit with a different kind of asphalt patch than they use in warmer months.

Today’s “cold mix” is much better than the asphalt used during winter a decade ago, but it still doesn’t work as well as the “hot mix.” That’s why some potholes have to be repaired over and over again.

The main problem isn’t cold so much as wet. Asphalt likes dry conditions when it comes to adhering to other asphalt, said Tim Martin, Coeur d’Alene’s streets superintendent.

“When moisture gets in, then that’s when the traffic beats the cold mix out,” said Martin, adding that cold mix asphalt is used as a temporary patch until warmer, drier weather allows crews to make the switch to hot asphalt.

Polymers in current cold mix products do make it stickier than previous products, said Mark Serbousek, the city of Spokane’s Street Department operations engineer. That allows it to be used in potholes that have some water in them.

“If there’s good structure under the hole, it will hold, but if is just dirt underneath, it won’t hold,” said Serbousek.

Spokane has three crews working on pothole repair now, and they’ve been keeping up pretty well, he said.

Some of those holes get reported again and again because the street is just too compromised to hold the patches well, Serbousek explained.

Repeat offenders include Empire Avenue between Lidgerwood Street and Cook Street, Crestline Street from Lincoln Road to Magnesium Road, 37th Avenue from Grand Boulevard to Havana Street, Driscoll Boulevard from Courtland Avenue to Winston Drive, and Wellesley Avenue from Division Street to Monroe Street.

Those sections of Wellesley and 37th are both on the city’s street bond repair list.

Coeur d’Alene’s street crews have a list of potholes that they check daily and fill as necessary, said Martin.

The current problem child is north Ramsey Road, which is pocked with small potholes, which crews have to fill and refill, Martin said.

The good news is that Ramsey Road is set for reconstruction this spring from about Wilbur Avenue to Hanley Avenue, which should solve the problem.

New year, new projects

The city of Spokane will be working on several major transportation projects this spring, summer and fall. Here are some highlights:

“Havana Street Bridge – A new, $12 million bridge will be built over the railroad tracks at Havana Street as part of the Bridging the Valley project to eliminate at-grade crossings between Spokane and Athol. This bridge will take two years.

“Traffic monitoring – Traffic cameras and fiber-optic communications systems will be installed on North Division Street, Third Avenue downtown, Washington and Stevens streets from Second Avenue to Sixth Avenue, and on Maple Street between Third Avenue and the Spokane River.

“Maple Street and Ash Street will be rebuilt from Northwest Boulevard to Wellesley Avenue.

“Twenty-ninth Avenue will be rebuilt from Southeast Boulevard to Freya Street.

“Southeast Boulevard will be reconstructed from Perry Street to Sherman Street/Third Avenue.