►
Description
City officials provide an update on the City’s response to the pothole problem. There has been an increase in freeze/thaw cycles this winter that contribute to the formation of potholes.
A
B
Good
morning,
everyone
so
we're
here
to
talk
about
a
topic
that
I
know
is
near
and
dear
to
every
minnesotan's
heart,
which
is
potholes.
We
have
already
experienced
the
eighth
snowiest
winter
in
history
and
we're
still
moving
up
the
ladder,
there's
a
good
chance
we're
going
to
crack
into
the
top
five
by
the
time.
It's
all
said
and
done.
B
We've
already
had
80
inches
of
snow
this
winter
and
when
you
have
that
amount
of
snow
and
when
you
have
the
freeze
thaw
cycles
that
we've
seen
when
you
have
the
freezing
rain,
when
you
have
the
runoff
that
freezes
and
then
melts
again,
it
does
wreak
havoc
on
our
roads
and
on
our
infrastructure,
and
that
is
why
we've
now
entered
pothole
season.
Officially,
the
good
news
is
that
we've
got
a
plan.
B
While
we
wait
for
a
permanent
fix
now,
here's
also
the
reality
of
the
situation
is
that
I'm
asking
you
to
be
a
bit
patient
because
we
can't
go
through
the
full
Street
reconstruction
or
the
mill
and
overlay
or
fill
these
potholes
on
a
permanent
basis
until
we
know
that
the
freeze
thaw
cycle
is
finished
and
that's
not
going
to
happen
for
another
couple
of
weeks.
So
again
again,
we
can't
move
entirely
down
the
permanent
route
until
we
know
that
the
freeze
thaw
cycle
is
complete.
B
That
would,
in
fact,
be
the
opposite
of
what
we
were
looking
for
in
terms
of
the
streets,
so
in
in
the
meantime,
what
we're
adding
is
this
asphalt,
gravel
mixture
to
all
of
these
potholes
now?
Is
this
the
best
long-term
solution?
No,
it's
not,
but
it
will
fill
the
holes
during
this
interim
period
of
time.
B
So
what
we're
asking
all
of
you
to
do
here
now
is
is
one
if
you
see
a
public
works
crew
out
there
and
they're
going
to
be
out
there
in
droves.
Again
we're
going
to
authorize
a
pretty
substantial
allocation
for
overtime
for
weekend
hours
and
for
additional
Crews
to
be
out
there
doing
this
work.
Make
sure
you
thank
them,
make
sure
you
say.
Thank
you.
Second,
be
patient
and
third
call
3-1-1,
letting
us
know
where
these
potholes
are,
how
serious
how
big
they
are.
B
If
you
can
get
a
picture
and
send
it
in
that
all
helps
us
better
help
you
and
so
that's
the
direction
we're
going
right
now.
We
really
appreciate
everyone
as
we
move
through
this
pothole
season
and
then
into
construction
season
here
in
Minneapolis,
but
I'll
tell
you,
we
got
a
plan
and
we'll
be
on
the
right
track
and
with
that
I
want
to
hand
it
over
to
our
leader
of
this
whole
effort
and
initiative
in
director,
Margaret
Anderson
Keller.
A
Margaret
Anderson
Kelleher,
director
of
Public
Works.
As
the
mayor
said,
we
are
out
there
already
filling
potholes.
We
are
going
to
continue
to
fill
potholes
it.
The
temporary
patch
that
the
mayor
mentioned,
which
is
cold
patch.
The
truck
behind
us,
carries
both
it
would
carry
both
a
cold
patch
and
when
the
plant
is
up
and
running
for
Hot
Patch
it'll
carry
that
as
well
we're
going
to
do
about
250
tons
of
cold
patch
this
year
and
that
has
started.
But
as
the
mayor
mentioned,
the
issue
is
cold.
Patch
is
more
porous.
A
It
still
allows
water
through
and
with
the
freeze
thaw
cycle,
often
those
filled
potholes
will
pop
up
again,
and
so
we
just
we
it's
kind
of
a
repeated
process.
Until
we
can
get
the
hot
patch
in
our
hands.
The
Hot
Patch
comes
to
us
from
a
plant
in
Saint
Paul,
and
that
is
not
open.
Yet
the
permanent
patching
of
potholes,
we
will
be
filling
over
200
potholes
a
day,
and
so
that
process
is
the
Hot
Patch.
It's
compacting
the
Hot
Patch
and
making
sure
that
it
stays
down.
A
But,
like
the
mayor
said,
we
need
your
help
and
we
need
folks
to
report
those
potholes.
We
don't
magically
know
where
the
potholes
are.
We
need
people
to
tell
us
how
long
the
pothole
is
How
Deep,
The
pothole
is
where
the
pothole
is.
We
have
an
order
of
operations
in
how
we
fill
these
potholes.
If
the
pothole
is
more
of
a
a
dangerous
pothole
that
it
could
cause
damage,
that
goes
to
the
top
of
the
list,
and
then
we
go
from
there
to
fill
those
potholes.
A
We
also
want
to
just
tell
you
a
little
bit
about
what
we
do
to
mitigate
this
problem.
We
do
work
on
our
streets
year
round
and
director
palman
Joe
palman's,
going
to
tell
you
even
more
about
that.
But
every
year
we
are
on
a
five-year
average.
We've
done,
20
miles
of
seal
coating,
30
miles
of
crack
ceiling,
31
miles
of
Street
resurfacing
and
Street
reconstruction.
A
The
only
way
out
of
pothole
season
is
really
those
things
the
the
better
repair
the
streets
are
in
and
we
have
a
very
good
plan
in
Minneapolis
of
our
20-year
Street
repair
plan,
but
it
takes
some
time
and
obviously
we
have
winter
for
a
good
part
of
that.
So
the
mayor
mentioned
being
able
to
put
more
resources
on
this.
We
are
going
to
start
doing
that
immediately.
A
We
are
going
to
increase
overtime
hours
for
folks
do
weekend
hours
and
that
money
will
also
pay
for
material
and
we
estimate,
based
on
the
last
time
we
had
a
very
serious
pothole
season,
which
was
about
2013
2014..
We
spent
an
additional
million
dollars
and
we
believe
that
we'll
spend
at
least
that
amount
on
this
pothole
season,
so
I'm
going
to
turn
it
over
to
director
Joe
palman
who
directs
Transportation
maintenance
and
repair.
He
has
a
couple
of
his
colleagues
with
him
here
today
and
we're
gonna.
C
Thank
you
Margaret.
As
director
Anderson
Kelleher
said,
my
name
is
Joe
palm
and
I'm
the
director
of
Transportation
maintenance
and
repair,
and
what
I'm
going
to
talk
a
little
bit
about
today
is
why
potholes
form
why
this
season
has
been
particularly
problematic
for
potholes
and
what
our
plan
is
as
well
as
our
how
we're
going
to
prioritize
the
repair
of
the
potholes.
So,
as
many
of
us
know,
potholes
form
when
water
enters
the
cracks
in
the
streets,
freezes
expands
and
then
displaces.
The
pavement
we've
all
put
something
in
our
freezer.
C
C
What's
atypical
or
different
about
this
year
is
in
spite
of
the
fact
that
we're
approaching
record
snowfall
numbers
and
we
have
had
temperature
wise,
a
a
more
mild
winter,
and
so
we
saw
many
back-to-back
freestyle
Cycles
in
Jan
February,
and
we
saw
you
know
many
many
more
potholes
in
January
than
we
normally
see.
You
know
a
typical
year
for
us:
we'd
start
poaching,
excuse
me
patching
potholes
in
February
and
March
and-
and
we
began
that
you
know
much
earlier
in
January
this
year.
C
So
in
terms
of
our
operational
plan
and
how
we
plan
to
address
the
potholes
I.
Think
the
mayor
and
director
Anderson
Kelleher
did
a
good
job
of
talking
about
that
cold,
cold
patch
mixture
that
we're
using
right
now,
the
cold
pack
patch
mixture
is
temporary
in
nature,
but
we're
glad
we
have
it
because
it
it
does
a
good
job
of
sticking
to
wet
potholes.
It
does
a
good
job
of
patching
potholes
in
less
than
ideal
conditions,
which
is
what
we
see
out
there
right
now.
C
Moving
forward
to
when
the
asphalt
plants
are
open
late,
this
month
or
in
early
April,
we
will
deploy
at
least
80
personnel
with
with
the
extra
funding
and
overtime
we
we
may
be
able
to
add
an
additional
three
crews
to
that.
So
we
will.
It
will
be
a
all
hands
on
deck
approach
again,
just
that,
as
it
has
been
with
snow
removal
this
winter
and
and
we
will
begin
to
prioritize-
not
only
our
3-1-1
manholes-
that
we're
prioritizing
right
now,
I'm
kind
of
the
worst
of
the
worst.
C
A
So
I'll
do
that
two
different
ways:
the
cold
patch
is
actually
included
in
our
snow
budget,
so
the
cold
patch
just
goes
right
into
what
we're
using
on
snow
and
we
don't
have
a
final
total.
Yet
in
terms
of
what
we're
going
to
spend
this
year,
we're
obviously
spending
more
than
we
spent
last
year
on
snow
removal
and
snow
mitigation
on
potholes,
typically
we're
spending
between
1.3
and
1.5
million
dollars
on
Street
repairs,
which
are
the
type
of
street
repair
that
is
more
reactive.
A
C
We
don't
have
the
exact
tons
of
what
we
we
put
in
last
year,
but
we
I
can
get
you
those
numbers,
but
we
do
know
that
we're
probably
at
80
percent
a
greater
number
than
what
we
were
at
this
time
last
year.
So,
as
we
said,
you
know
typically
where
we
don't
start
patching
much
in
January,
we
we've
used
a
good.
You
know
we
used
a
good
part
of
our
patching
material,
starting
in
January
this
winter.
A
C
So
the
the
Saint
Paul
asphalt
plant
is
usually
one
of
the
first
plants
that
opens
up
in
the
spring.
There
are
other
asphalt
plants
around
the
Metro
as
well,
but
you
know
it
seems
like
historically
that
plant
opens
first
and
is
the
one
that
a
lot
of
the
area
cities
go
to
to
get
their
hot
mix
from
so
I
wouldn't
say
it's
atypical
that
they're
not
open.
Yet
it's
it's.
It's
typically
open
right
around
the
first
of
April,
just
just
because
of
the
weather,
that's
needed
to
produce
the
hot
mix.
A
Yeah,
the
the
hot
pitch
Hot
Patch
mixture
is
fairly
resilient
and
will
stick
for
quite
a
while
I
mean
it
could.
It
could
last
for
up
to
even
a
couple
of
years.
It's
not,
but
the
cold
patch
usually
doesn't
make
it
through
the
season
and
sometimes
doesn't
even
make
it
through
a
couple
of
weeks.
So
that's
why
we
have
to
go
back
and
do
the
two-step
process
on
that.
D
A
And-
and
thank
you
for
mentioning
drainage
something
I
should
have
asked
to-
is
that
we
really
do
want
people
to
clear
drains
that
are
backed
up
because
having
drainage
back
to
the
street,
the
melting
snow
also
contributes
to
forming
the
potholes.
So
it
is
okay
on
a
residential
street
to
go
out
there
with
your
ice
Chopper
or
your
shovel
and
clear
out
that
drain.
We
want
you
to
be
doing
that.
Obviously,
if
it's
a
busy
road,
please
don't
do
that,
but
if
it's
a
residential
street,
we
encourage
folks
to
do
that.
A
You
know
studying
this
at
the
city
level,
there's
actually
a
number
of
things
happening
nationally
on
studying
of
materials
and
I
do
know.
From
my
experience
at
MnDOT,
the
MnDOT
has
a
research
program
that
they
fund,
both
with
the
University
of
Minnesota
and
other
universities
around
the
country.
Looking
at
these
very
things,
because
we
all
face
the
similar
problem,
whether
it's
state
county
City,
we
are
all
having
this
issue
and
so
studying
what
other
materials
may
be
effective
is
something
that's
happening.
A
Yeah
so
two
things:
the
20-year
streets
plan
is
really
about
reconstruction
and
resurfacing
of
our
streets
to
keep
them
in
good
repair,
and
so
traditionally
that
is
either
asphalt
or
concrete
that
is
put
onto
the
streets.
I.
Think
the
the
bigger
issue
you're
asking
about.
There
are
some
places:
mndot's
Research
Road
facility
up
on
94..
They
are
studying
some
additional
materials
that
could
maybe
add
to
the
resiliency
of
pavement.
That's
one
thing
that
we're
looking
for,
but
there's
nothing
exactly
there
right
now
today
that
we
could
utilize.
E
Instruction
is
what's
happening
right
now,
alter
I,
assume,
there's
a
plan
for
what
streets
are
going
to
be
reconstructed
is
what's
happening
right
now.
There
are
some
streets
that
are
literally
undrivable
the
last
couple
weeks
because,
what's
happening
with
the
pothole
season,
alter
the
the
plan
of
what
streets
are
reconstructed.
A
So
the
issue
of
how
we
prioritize
these
streets
for
their
street
reconstruction,
it's
a
combination
of
using
the
pavement
condition
index,
the
PCI
in
the
city,
and
so
when
a
PCI
is
falling
below
50
we're
paying
much
much
closer
attention
to
it.
In
some
cases,
this
winter
because
of
the
ice
and
those
things
those
streets
that
are
already
due
for
either
resurfacing
or
repaving,
are
definitely
on
our
radar
that,
generally
speaking,
that
is
set
for
this
year,
of
which
streets
will
be
reconstructed
or
repaved.