Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl called this winter one of the harshest he’s seen in his tenure, but the freezing temperatures and snowfall might have been cruelest to the city’s roads.
With potholes dotting most of Athens’ streets, particularly West Union Street and Richland Avenue, Wiehl said city officials are taking to city streets daily looking for any repairs that need to be made. The city is sending out crews of three to five city employees daily to target problem areas and patrol less-frequented roads.
Repairs are made with a cold-patch asphalt, which Wiehl said isn’t always effective but is commonplace during colder months. The city has spent more than $7,500 this year on the mixture, purchasing around 70 tons, with 2.2 tons used two weeks ago alone, Wiehl added.
“We’re repairing the roads as best as we can. We’ve been using a lot of cold-patch (asphalt) this year, which isn’t as good as hot-patch,” Wiehl said.
But West Union and Richland aren’t seeing as much love as they might have in earlier years because of the multi-million dollar projects set to take place on them later this year, said Athens City Councilwoman Michele Papai, D-3rd ward.
“Union and Richland are going to be torn up after May,” Papai said. “It would be wasted resources to put a lot of effort into minor repairs right now. They’re getting ready for a major overhaul.”
The $4 million rehabilitation planned for “Richland South” will completely repave the road, Deputy Service Safety Director Ron Lucas said, but city leaders will still continue minor repairs until the project breaks ground.
“Richland has been a problem area for us for a number of years, so we’re excited for this project to alleviate some of the stress that it puts on drivers, pedestrians and our staff,” Lucas said. “In the spring, we’ll go out with hot mix and fill potholes.”
Because of the short-lasting effect of the cold mixture, which Lucas said bonds poorly to the surrounding cement, city officials often find the same pothole will
have to be repaved several times a winter.
“We’ll fill the same one quite a few times,” Lucas said. “The mix actually holds up better in a pothole that’s a little bit deeper as opposed to a surface coat of asphalt, which might peel off.”
Wiehl said potholes, despite being problematic to vehicles and a nuisance to the city, are not the city’s largest concern with infrastructure. The city budgets $300,000 a year for general road repair, he said, and filling potholes only takes a small chunk out of that total.
It’s repairing infrastructure, such as sewer and water lines, that costs the city millions.
“$300,000 only gets about one-third of what you need done, done,” Wiehl said. “But if we’re going to be repairing the waterline under West Union in 2015, there’s no reason to put a lot of money into it now.”
Wiehl added city council members and the Athens Engineering and Public Works Department will take a bus around the city in early April to further assess any winter damage to the roads, and then develop a game plan.
“We will be patching it as best as we can,” Wiehl said. “We hear gossip, and we find out what’s going on. (Athens City Director of Engineering and Public Works) Andy Stone keeps a list of all of the roads that need repair, and he hears from his crews too what roads need it most, then he ties it into whatever maintenance that’s needed underneath the roads.”
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This article appeared in print under the headline "City to fix some road faults."
