It's pothole season again: Thousands of potholes in Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County keep crews busy
This crumbling stretch of East Stadium Boulevard in front of the Big House has gotten worse recently with the freeze-thaw cycle blowing open new potholes. City officials said the road won't be repaved until 2016 when the city can capture federal funding. In the meantime, motorists might experience a bumpy ride as the city tries to keep up with patching the deteriorating section between Main Street and the new Stadium bridges.
Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com
"It's pretty irritating," she said of the crater near the end of her driveway that's been growing in size as temperatures have fluctuated between warm and freezing lately.
"It's only gotten worse with the snow and ice piled on it, and then the city taking a while to make it to our neighborhood to plow, so it has cracked more," she said. "Now it's just a mess."
Luckily, Bankston said, traffic in her cul-de-sac isn't too busy, so she usually isn't coming face-to-face with another vehicle when she drives on the other side of the street to avoid the damaged area.
This pothole on Baylis Drive in south Ann Arbor has been irritating residents for weeks.
Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com
According to Ann Arbor officials, a citizen-reported pothole will be patched within 24 weekday hours, weather and other activities permitting.
Residents can call 734-99-HOLES to report potholes in the city. They also can place a pothole repair order via the city's online request system.
Since Jan. 1, the city has received 99 citizen reports of potholes, including 34 submitted through the online system and 65 submitted by calls to the hotline.
"Pothole patching is ongoing throughout the city," said Nick Hutchinson, interim manager of the city's project management unit. "This time of the year is the toughest on our streets."
Michigan's temperatures are infamous for rapidly alternating between cold and warm this time of year, causing freezing and thawing conditions that result in street potholes.
Potholes are caused by water entering through cracks in the street and then pooling under the surface in the street sub-base. Each time the water freezes and expands, and then thaws again, the street becomes damaged, and potholes are created.
City crews regularly have been patching potholes in Ann Arbor since the end of November, said Kirk Pennington, the city's field operations supervisor.
Pennington said the workload varies with the swings in temperatures, but the city is seeing an increase in the quantity of patching material being used.
A car drives past a pothole at the intersection of Fifth Street and Madison Street on Friday in Ann Arbor.
Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com
In Ann Arbor, East Stadium Boulevard in front of the Big House consistently is cited as one of the most affected roads, which has worsened with recent freeze-thaw cycles.
Hutchinson said the road won't be repaved until 2016 when the city can capture federal funding for the project. The city's Capital Improvements Plan shows $3.34 million planned for complete reconstruction of Stadium Boulevard from Hutchins Avenue to Kipke Drive in fiscal year 2015-16.
In the meantime, motorists might experience a bumpy ride as the city tries to keep up with patching the deteriorating section just west of the new Stadium bridges as potholes emerge.
Another bad spot is Ann Arbor-Saline Road at the Interstate 94 overpass. Officials recently announced a resurfacing project planned for the area is being pushed back to 2014 after the Michigan Department of Transportation could not find the funding to make the project happen this year.
The project has been in the planning process since 2011 and is a partnership between MDOT, the Washtenaw County Road Commission and the city of Ann Arbor.
Roy Townsend, managing director for the Road Commission, said thousands of potholes are prevalent this year across the county on both paved and unpaved roads. He said the commission already has spent about $250,000 patching potholes since Jan. 1.
A car drives over a crumbling section of East Stadium Boulevard on Friday. Another car's busted hubcap was sitting in the road nearby.
Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com
He believes this year is worse than past years due to the numerous freeze/thaw cycles and a lack of investment in roads in Michigan, causing them to continue to deteriorate.
"We are finding numerous potholes on our aged pavements with moderate to heavy traffic volumes," he said. "Currently based on our 2012 pavement evaluation, over 50 percent of the roads in Washtenaw County are in poor condition, which is the same for the rest of the state."
Townsend said that's one of the major reasons why Gov. Rick Snyder is pushing for a $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion funding increase per year for roads in Michigan.
"Roads are funded with gas and diesel taxes, which have not changed in 15 years for gas and nearly 30 years for diesel," Townsend said.
The Road Commission takes care of county roads and state trunklines within the boundaries of Washtenaw County, including I-94, US-23, US-12 (Michigan Avenue), M-14, M-52, M-17 (Washtenaw Avenue), M-153 (Ford Road connected to M-14), Ecorse Road, and the Willow Run bypass.
Citizens can report potholes on county-managed roads by calling the Road Commission at 734-761-1500 or by sending an email to wcrc@wcroads.org.
Pennington said the city of Ann Arbor plans to spend $224,289 combating potholes on major city streets this year, and another $72,800 on local neighborhood streets.
Jackson, Huron, Barton, Fuller, Packard and Pontiac Trail are the major streets where potholes are most frequently being noticed, he said. The local neighborhood streets experiencing the most frequent potholes, he said, are on the city's resurfacing list for this year.
Madison Street in Ann Arbor is expected to be reconstructed from Seventh to Main this year, which presumably would fix this pothole at the intersection of Madison and Fifth streets.
Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com
Crews make regular visits to locations where potholes are known to frequently occur to try to reduce the size or duration that a pothole might exist.
"Pothole patching is a reactionary type of task," Pennington said. "And where one wasn't yesterday, there may be one today."
Once a road reaches a certain condition or age, very little can be done to prevent potholes outside of repaving, he said.
Holes on paved roads throughout Washtenaw County are being filled by Road Commission crews with cold patch, which is a mix of an oil product and small stones.
"We place between 800 and 1,200 tons per year countywide," Townsend said, adding the commission has realized a significant cost reduction over the past few years by making the cold patch itself.
The in-house batch performs better, Townsend said, and it costs $62 per ton versus roughly $90 per ton if purchased from a vendor.
Holes on unpaved roads are being filled by Road Commission crews with limestone or gravel depending on the material with which the road is surfaced.
In an effort to help reduce the damage on roads, the Road Commission as of Feb. 25 has imposed seasonal weight restrictions, which are legal limits placed on the loads trucks can carry.
"During late winter and early spring, when seasonal thawing occurs, the maximum allowable axle load and speed is reduced to prevent weather-related breakup of roads," Townsend said. "This helps preserve the roads, but it does not prevent potholes from occurring."
Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's email newsletters.
Comments
Sam S Smith
Mon, Mar 11, 2013 : 1:52 p.m.
Dear Ann Arbor, the reason why are roads are in such crappy condition is that mass transit agenda is the priority. The roads will go beyond repair so the argument will be for mass transit. Isn't it obvious?
John Roos
Mon, Mar 11, 2013 : 4:08 a.m.
It's always potholes season in Ann Arbor. Spring just happens to be the best season to see them.
grimmk
Mon, Mar 11, 2013 : 4:04 a.m.
Ok, when will the stretch of Carpenter between Washtenaw and Packard be COMPLETELY redone?? I live in Ypsi and I HATE Prospect from Cross to Forest. It's just patches on patches on patches, it's not a road anymore. I swear next time I am sending the city my car bill for a fixed suspension.
Amy Biolchini
Mon, Mar 11, 2013 : 1:58 p.m.
That part of Carpenter will be completely redone in 2014. It's probably the project that I get the most questions about in the comments.
Shi Schultz
Mon, Mar 11, 2013 : 3:33 a.m.
I can't believe the stretch in front of the big house was not done when the bridge was done. That is completely stupid, that stretch was closed to thru traffic the entire time the bridge was. Why couldn't of this, LESS THAN ½ MILE stretch been done while it was closed and included in the bridge cost? Now it's going to become pot hole H**L for the next 3 years because through planning was not done. Very nice work on the bridge though, turned out beautiful…
Brad
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 11:16 p.m.
Our roads suck, but we'll have a swell monorail some day.
nancy
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 11:04 p.m.
So they're not going to fix the road in front of the stadium until 2016. Why wasn't that section of road fixed during the interminable time Stadium was closed for the bridge repair?
Billy
Mon, Mar 11, 2013 : 1:45 a.m.
Because NOW they can slate ANOTHER roadwork project....that will provide s bunch of menial labor jobs and make those private company owners who "win" the contracts TONS of money. There needs to be FAR more transparency when governments contract with private companies for things like major construction projects. If you ever wonder why you pay so much in taxes....yet so little seems to be done with them...this is why. Because people misappropriate funds.....bill out projects for WAY more than they're actually worth....and pocket the difference because they're a private company with no oversight.
Morty Seinfeld
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 8:57 p.m.
We all realize that without the University of Michigan, the City of Ann Arbor would be an entirely different city and presumably not for the better, however, I imagine the University creates a majority of car, truck and bus traffic on the city streets, however the University pays no taxes to the City that could be used for the roads. It's a catch-22.
JRW
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 11:56 p.m.
UM should kick in a % of the costs for the city fire services, police services and road maintenance. Their employees and students use all of the city roads, and while they have their own police dept, the city is often involved with more serious crimes and the UM does not have its own fire dept. Until UM starts paying its fair share, the residents of the city will end up carrying the load in terms of taxes and incompetent road maintenance. Not a good situation, nor is it fair to the residents of the city. The worst part is that about 70% of UM employees don't live in AA city, yet they drive their cars into the city every day and don't pay any taxes for city street maintenance.
JRW
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 8:37 p.m.
Residents really need to start sending their repair bills to the city for their damaged wheels, damaged hub caps, and damaged rims. There is really no excuse for the abysmal condition of the streets in A2 and the total incompetence of the road crews.
LXIX
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 8:33 p.m.
People just call them sinkholes in Florida. Gggggrrreatttttt Artttttticleeee (Another reason why kids should never text while driving in Ann Arbor).
Ken
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 8:30 p.m.
I'm a little confused as to why the City of Ann Arbor expects the Federal Government to fund improvements to East Stadium; it's clearly a local road used entirely by those that live or work in the immediate area, not folks from Kansas. Personally, I think the first thing we need to do in reforming road construction and maintenance funding at the local, regional, state, and national level is to keep the bulk of the money in the community in which it is generated- rather than sending most of it off to some massive central pool where politicians that are not accountable to local residents make funding decisions, and much of it ends up being siphoned off for bridges to nowhere in Alaska, the L.A. subway system, and logging roads in the U.P.. The only Federal funding of roads should be reserved for the interstate highway system, state funding should be limited to highways that connect communities, and county money should be limited to major roads; any other funds should be divvied up among the cities and townships based on population so that we finally have a little accountability for how the money is spent.
JRW
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 8:22 p.m.
Watching these pothole repair crews is a joke. They drive along a street filled with pothole, the truck keeps moving, someone standing on the back of the moving truck takes a shovelful of asphalt and heaves it off the truck in the general direction of the hole, often missing entirely. The pile of loose asphalt sits on the road, sometimes near the hole and occasionally in it. The truck keeps rolling along. No one stops to push the asphalt into the hole. It's a complete joke. I've driven along many streets where this comical excuse for road repair has occurred with loose asphalt flying all over the place as cars drive by and little of it actually in a pothole. Even if some of the loose asphalt actually makes it into a hole, it's not enough to fill it and the cars drive around these piles of loose asphalt. Who wants all that tar thrown up on their bumpers? Total joke.
Homeland Conspiracy
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 7:44 p.m.
We don't have roads here we have wagon trails!
Tom Todd
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 7:15 p.m.
Taxes for wars,taxes for welfare for the rich and poor, taxes for governors to squander for the rich,how about filling pot holes for the middle class.
Basic Bob
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 7:21 p.m.
You're just jealous.
getyourstorystraightfirst
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 6:53 p.m.
I wish they would fix these potholes or reimburse me the $121 I had to pay to replace my 1 tire!
JRW
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 11:50 p.m.
Send your bill to the city.
Ryan J. Stanton
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 4:47 p.m.
Some of the street projects included in the city of Ann Arbor's proposed capital budget for the next two years: Stadium Boulevard (Hutchins to Kipke) Stone School Road (I-94 to Ellsworth) Ann Arbor-Saline Road (Oak Valley Drive to Eisenhower Parkway) Geddes Avenue (Apple Way to Huron Parkway) Pontiac Trail (M-14 to Skydale) State Street (Eisenhower to I-94) Forest (South University to Hill) Pauline (Stadium to Seventh) Fifth Avenue (Kingsley to Catherine) Packard (Anderson to Eisenhower) Scio Church (Main to Seventh) South Maple (Jackson to West Stadium) Washington (First to Fourth Avenue) Division (Madison to Huron) Liberty (First to Main) Newport Road (Sunset to city limits)
Mick52
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 4:17 p.m.
I think that for decades A2 city council has been a social agenda focused government that boosts their social agenda issues over or at least equal to essential services like police, fire, utilities and road repair. A2 has an extensive network of low income housing for their "affordable housing" quest, a green belt tax for their environmental quest and of course the art fund to be able to hire world class artists to put up their expensive art. Of course these funds are approved on the ballot for these specific purposes but when you add on additional taxes for this stuff it is hard to ask for more every now and then for infrastructure needs. I do think however that since A2 voters seem to be electing the same folks repeatedly that tells us the majority is quite satisfied with the status quo. So I see it as that this is what the majority wants.
Sam S Smith
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 8:15 p.m.
The art fund that skims off other funds illegally was approved of only by city council not the voters
Mick52
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 4:02 p.m.
Pothole season is here? Pothole season in Ann Arbor is summer, fall, winter, spring. Worst city streets I have ever driven on.
JRW
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 8:25 p.m.
TOTALLY correct. There is no season WITHOUT potholes. I've never seen worse streets in my life.
Brad
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 7:40 p.m.
Pothole season runs from March 1st to February 28th (except for leap year).
mady
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 4:32 p.m.
Mick, you took the words right out of my mouth. pothole "season?" are they kidding?!
TheDiagSquirrel
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 3:50 p.m.
The U.S. government built $1 billion worth of road infrastructure in Iraq over the past few years, while the road infrastructure here continues to break down due to less federal and state subsidies. Our priorities as a country are terrible...
pchbob
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 3:38 p.m.
City of a2 - Please explain why the Stadium road section, bridge to Main would not have been focused on, budgeted for to complete as part of Bridge project, be it Federal or City funds considering several of other roads to be paved thus summer? We are not talking about a long stretch here. 2016 completion? Absolute nonsense, poor mgmt, and project execution that would not be accepted in non-gov't project undertakings.
stormear
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 3:20 p.m.
I grew up in Ohio, lived in Indiana the past 3 years and just move to Ann Arbor this past fall. I find the roads in Michigan utterly appalling. It doesn't matter if it's a dirt road, a paved road, or a main city road - all the roads are in disrepair. I just traveled to Ohio to visit my parents who live on a rural road with only 3 houses in a 4 mile stretch. The road is smooth and well cared for. Roads with heavier traffic are repaved on a regular basis so they remain in better condition, better. Same thing for Indiana. And in Indiana and Ohio my taxes on gas, insurance, and other driving expenses were lower. My car insurances DOUBLED coming to AA due to taxes. My guess is that Michigan is taking that money and paying people to go around and destroy the roads, there's no other way they can be in such terrible condition!
Mike
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 10:25 p.m.
Welcome to Ann Arbor, Michigan. Hope your Prius doesn't get swallowed up in a pothole...............
Tom Todd
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 7:12 p.m.
it's so the car companies can sell more cars here,although who wants to tear up a new car on these roads that are worse then what we pay to build in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Michael
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 5:46 p.m.
The way the roads are constructed in Michigan is different. That's the only explanation. For roads to be long lasting, they need a very good base. Lots of good quality soil underneath and a very deep underlay of asphalt or concrete. So even if roads are constructed using asphalt, they will still last a long time. Concrete is the way to go, but the upfront cost is much more expensive, so many areas decide to go with asphalt instead.
a2citizen
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 3:03 p.m.
Years ago the wives of Grosse Pointe grew tired of waiting for the city to fix potholes so they took it upon themselves to fill in the divots. The city wasn't very happy and made them stop.
Tom Todd
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 7:10 p.m.
even the rich don't enjoy bouncing the Mercedes out of a pot hole.
Billy
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 2:49 p.m.
Hurry up with the hovercars then we won't have to worry about pot holes anymore...
A2comments
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 2:48 p.m.
My experience with WCRC and using the email address to report potholes (or other issues) is that it's done within 24 - 48 hours. GREAT SERVICE!
Elijah Shalis
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 2:44 p.m.
When is Stone School RD going to be repaved?
Ryan J. Stanton
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 4:27 p.m.
The city's tentative capital budget for FY 2013-14 (which starts July 1) shows more than $4 million being spent on Stone School Road from I-94 to Ellsworth, including $2 million for reconstruction, $825,000 for water main replacement, $80,000 for sanitary sewer extensions and $1.1 million for stormwater improvements. However, I don't see it on the city's list of tentative 2013 street projects, so I'm going to guess it's a 2014 project. http://a2gov.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=1282215&GUID=D47CA4A4-8C0C-4321-ABE3-F5849D488296&Options=&Search=
a2cents
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 1:46 p.m.
Cheer up! The new monster, mega-$, electronic billboard you see sprouting in the stadium pic will make it all better AND take your mind off the road and its imperfections.
Mike
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 10:23 p.m.
Maybe we shouldn't have spent all of the money on the stupic signs on I-94 that tell us how many minutes until wherever...........Everytime I see those and hit a pothole my hair catches on fire..............
ruminator
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 1:41 p.m.
"Holes on unpaved roads are being filled by Road Commission crews with limestone or gravel depending on the material with which the road is surfaced" Well, not on our road. There was an attempt this week to grade the road. The existing mud was moved around to disguise the potholes. Most have returned and will be aggravated by the coming rain. The road will be mud and in places covered side to side by water. The roadway is now one foot lower than the poorly maintained drainage system. (ditches) This is not a description of a third world road. Nope. This is 2013. Washtenaw County.
Piledriver
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 1:40 p.m.
I think the United States needs to quit sending our taxdollars overseas, supporting and rebuilding countries that hate us anyway. It's long past due to start a serious infrastructure rebuilding program here at home.
stormear
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 3:22 p.m.
It's not the US that's the problem, it's Michigan. Go to other states and you won't see the same deplorable road conditions.
Ryan J. Stanton
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 1:30 p.m.
Ann Arbor has about 300 miles of city streets it's responsible for maintaining, including 100 miles of major streets and 200 miles of residential streets, and 13 bridges. Here's a story I had last month showing 25 miles of streets were repaved last year for about $8.2 million. http://www.annarbor.com/news/new-report-25-miles-of-streets-resurfaced-in-ann-arbor-in-2012/ The city's major and local street funds are projected to break even operationally with $8.8 million coming in and going out each of the next two years. That primarily covers filling potholes, doing surface repairs, street sweeping, winter maintenance, pavement marking, traffic engineering, fiber optic installation and maintenance, and traffic sign/signal installation and maintenance. The city's street reconstruction millage fund, which is expected to bring in $9.9 million in revenue next year, has been operating at a deficit each of the last two years — a trend expected to continue. The fund has an available balance of $5 million. The street millage fund had an overall surplus totaling $4 million during 2009-10 and 2010-11, then it ran a $4.2 million deficit in 2011-12. A $9.9 million deficit is planned for the current fiscal year ending June 30, which the city now expects to follow up with a $4.9 million deficit in 2013-14, and a $1.1 million deficit in 2014-15. Street millage fund expenditures hit a high of $19.7 million this past year, but that's expected to tick down to $14.8 million in the next fiscal year, and $11.1 million the year after. Not counting $9 million that's required as a minimum balance, the street millage fund had $14.1 million in cash reserves available to spend as of last June. http://www.annarbor.com/news/2m-in-water-and-sewer-rate-increases-included-in-ann-arbors-tentative-budget-plan/
Bob
Mon, Mar 11, 2013 : 12:33 p.m.
Maybe it's not the money, but the quality of the repairs?
JRW
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 8:29 p.m.
The city's street reconstruction millage fund, which is expected to bring in $9.9 million in revenue next year, has been operating at a deficit each of the last two years — a trend expected to continue. The fund has an available balance of $5 million. Yet, they skim $$ off of road and street funds for abysmal public art! Terrible decision-making. Throw them out in the next election.
brimble
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 4:18 p.m.
Ryan - If I remember correctly, the reconstruction accomplished this year was 25 lane-miles (that is, a one-mile stretch of a four-lane road is 4 lane-miles). At $8.2 million, we're talking about $328K per lane-mile. 200 miles of residential streets is roughly 400 lane-miles, and 100 miles of major streets is another 400 lane-miles... multiplied by $328K per mile is just shy of $265 million. If we assume a 25-year lifespan for any given road, the city should be spending $10.5M every year on reconstruction alone, ignoring bridges, potholes, and other maintenance. That assumes, of course, that all 800 lane-miles are brand-new as of today, while 'catching up' means we are ever further behind.... Are my assumptions in line? If so, how far behind the curve is the City at this point?
dancinginmysoul
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 1:20 p.m.
I'm fairly certain there are roads in Ann Arbor that are just filled in potholes. There isn't a cohesive road left. I've actually seen road crews just pouring loose asphalt into holes and not even stamp it down; meaning they weren't even checking to see if they had filled the hole with enough asphalt, or even too much. Our tax dollars hard at work.
JRW
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 8:33 p.m.
" I don't see why the workers don't tamp down the patch." I'll answer this. Because the city road crews are incompetent. They don't know what they are doing. In other cities, one person stands on the back of the asphalt truck with the shovel and another person walks beside the truck with a tool to push the asphalt into the hole. In AA, I've watched the guy on the moving asphalt truck toss off shovel fulls and usually miss the pothole. They truck keeps moving. It's a joke. Loose asphalt all over the place and little of it in potholes. Cars swerve to avoid the loose tar spinning up on bumpers. This is Ann Arbor's idea of road repair.
leaguebus
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 2:24 p.m.
This happens on my street. Once the patch is put down, cars drive over it and the individual stones of the patch stick to the tires and soon, the patch is mostly gone. I don't see why the workers don't tamp down the patch.
walker101
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 11:53 a.m.
Funny how the city required you to pay for your sidewalks when it was they that installed them but held you liable, now they'll figure out a way for you to pay for maintenance on the roads they built with some type of fee(tax) then they'll tell you you can get insurance to maintain the roads.
grimmk
Mon, Mar 11, 2013 : 4:02 a.m.
Don't give them any ideas!
Homeland Conspiracy
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 7:39 p.m.
All caps is yelling
golfer
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 4:53 p.m.
THE CITY NOW DOES SIDEWALKS.
Billy
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 2:53 p.m.
The worst part about that sidewalk thing in the past...was that the company doing it were friends with city officials and they gouged with their prices. If you went and found someone private to repair your sidewalk you would get a quote at less than half of what the city would bill you.
golfer
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 11:14 a.m.
use some of the money in the art commission bank. they have been recognized finally.
a2grateful
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 10:55 a.m.
There are at least 3 dismal and unfortunate aspects for putrescent a2 roads: 1) Derelict routine maintenance for about the past 10 years has caused many roads to fail prematurely. 2) Road maintenance was fully funded during this time, and was unspent. Instead recent dedicated road millage funds have been spent to fund "folly art fountains." 3) 99-holes represents total abdication by the city to actively repair potholes. It places the onus of repairs on ordinary citizens. Many citizens already have full time jobs, preventing then from having full time jobs reporting potholes. Kind and helpful hint: measure the success of 99-holes by examining the condition of the roads (preferably on your bicycles, city officials). Then, if you think "99-holes" is successful, at least change the name to 99,000,000-holes.
Mike
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 10:19 p.m.
Find private contractors to maintain roads if the government can't. Maybe they should get out of the road businees and close the large bureacracy that goes along with it.
a2cents
Sun, Mar 10, 2013 : 1:56 p.m.
I too advocate for city officials on bicycle ( the road contingent anyway ). Up close on narrow, 120psi tires, the road conditions are uncomfortable and downright dangerous. Potholes and assorted other defects take on a whole new perspective.