Wichita works to catch up with potholes: ‘It’s worse than I’ve seen it in a while’
There may or may not be a lot more potholes after this year’s wintry winter, but it sure seems like we’re dodging more of them, and more of them certainly are being reported.
“We definitely have received more calls than we typically do,” said Aaron Henning, maintenance engineer for the city of Wichita. The city usually receives about 1,000 pothole reports a year; by the third week of March the number was already more than 700.
In addition to filling potholes that have been reported, the city scouts them out, too, and about 11,000 of them were patched in January and February this year. That’s a lot more than last year in that time frame — 8,400 — but less than in 2017, when just more than 12,000 were filled in January and February.
Henning is not sure what’s up.
“We have seen a huge uptick in the number that are being reported. It might be because we have a lot of different and probably more convenient ways for citizens to report potholes now. It could also be we have more in areas that are perhaps more visible, I don’t know. …
“Driving around I would say it’s worse than I’ve seen it in a while. The numbers so far don’t bear out that we’re patching that many more. But it seems like we’re seeing more as we drive around. It’s just a guess at this point.”
The potholes are caused by precipitation and by the cycle of freezing and thawing.
“We are doing the best we can to get them patched as quickly thereafter as possible,” Henning said.
“I think we’re gaining ground. The problem is when we have rain events, we have new ones form. And we do have a few that we have to redo that fail. One of the challenges is you’re having to address a lot of those during the event. Conditions of achieving a long-lasting patch are not ideal because you have moisture, water in the potholes typically. Our guys do the best they can to get the water out. But at best you’re left with damp edges, and that’s going to detract from the bond that you would otherwise get between the new material and the old.”
When you see a pothole that needs fixing, you can call the city, report on its website at wichita.gov, or use a smartphone app called Wichita Report that also accepts reports for things such as broken street lights and damaged signs. During business hours, the city prefers that you call 316-268-4013 to make a report. You will talk to an employee, and a crew will be dispatched to take care of the pothole immediately, getting the work done usually within a couple of hours. After hours, if a pothole looks like it could cause damage to a car or be a hazard to driving, people are asked to call 911.
“A lot of people don’t realize that causes damage,” Frank Schendel, owner of Frank’s Automotive on West Street, said of potholes. When people come in with tire or other problems from potholes, they don’t mention it, because they usually don’t know what caused it, he said.
While city crews fix potholes year-round, they also work to prevent them. The City Council just increased the amount of money that will be spent on sealing cracks and pavement to keep moisture out and better prevent potholes from forming in the first place. Last year, $8.5 million was spent on prevention, and $1 million has been added this year.
Whether there are more potholes this year or not, Henning is expecting the additional reporting by residents to see more of them than ever get filled.
“We average 60,000 potholes patched per year. This year is gonna take the average up quite a bit.”