City looks to fix pot holes left from winter

The snow has melted away and the exposed gray asphalt of Bloomington's roads resembles a field after land mines have been detonated. Spring cleaning has officially begun for the Street Department of Bloomington. \nThe city has planned over 95 paving jobs for this spring and summer. Most of those projects include resurfacing or filling in the crater-like potholes. These "fix up" jobs on the roads will cost an estimated $460,000, said Bob Chesnut, a street superintendent for Bloomington. The funds for these operations come from the local road and street funds, with a small percentage coming from government taxes. \nThe city of Bloomington is in charge of sweeping, tree removal, snow plowing and maintenance of the streets and sidewalks for over 400 miles of lanes. There are only 35 employees for the Department, which includes everyone from the office staff to the person who directs traffic with the neon-orange SLOW/STOP reversible sign at the side of construction sites.\nFrom December through March, the city conducts the first round of road rescue by filling in the potholes with a primary Cold Mix asphalt mix. Cold Mix is a temporary patch that serves to make the roads safer during the erratic weather of the winter to spring transaction. The Cold Mix cracks and opens due to the freezing and thawing of water that seeps through the asphalt. \nAfter the Cold Mix has opened, the street department crews go back out to each pothole site and fill them with a Hot Patch mix, which is only available in the late spring and early summer months. The Hot Patch fills in the remainder of the pothole not fixed by the Cold Mix and acts as a reinforcement for the repair job. There are no major construction plans for this year.\nChesnut said, "The roads have about a 10-year life span before they require any fixing. That is, unless there's a chemical spill or accident. Gasoline spills cause pot holes because they eat away the asphalt." \nThe city has already fixed 3,800 holes since last Friday alone and will continue work until the end of summer. The cost to fix one pothole for materials alone, is approximately $10. \nPotholes are dangerous, no matter how fast a car is going. The jagged edges where the asphalt has chipped away or disintegrated can cause flat tires on cars, warp the wheel alignment and cause serious accidents. \nSteve Fry, a sophomore and Bloomington resident of eight years, said the conditions of the roads have been fairly consistent since he moved here.\n"The gaping potholes are fixed pretty regularly, but there are still pretty bad potholes, especially on Dunn Street," Fry said.\nIU's Campus Division of the Physical Plant is also in the business of patching up potholes this spring. The roads IU claims responsibility for are roads like Rose or Jones -- roads around the dorms, parking lots and through campus. \nDave Hurst, manager of Campus Division, said the extent of pothole damage will be assessed in the spring and then Hot Patched in the later spring months. \n"There are several hundred potholes in the campus area alone, it takes a while to compile the damage list," Hurst said.\nSophomore Andy Bentz has been driving the streets of Bloomington for two years. Rough roads, he said, are an annoyance for far too many people.\n"Driving down Henderson from Second Street, and I hit a pothole," Bentz said. "My CD player shorts and skips, and my music is silent. My car has flesh wounds from these potholes, and now, I can't even have a smooth enough ride to listen to my music."\n-- Contact staff writer Allision Ricket at aricket@indiana.edu.