COLORADO SPRINGS — The changing weather here in southern Colorado is keeping all of us on our toes, but it is also making for some bumpy rides across town. Road repair crews explain why you'll need to be on the lookout for potholes this spring and how they hope to fix the problems.
Navigating the roads and highways during spring snow storms can be challenging enough, but after the snow melts drivers are forced to deal with more hazards, crumbling roads and potholes.
"We won't have the freeze and thaw with a spring storm like this. We'll have ample moisture that will negatively impact the sub-grade and then you start to throw traffic on top of it and potholes form," said Colorado Springs Public Works Operations and Maintenance Division Manager Corey Farkas.
In Colorado Springs the stark change in weather is something road repair crews are used to, but they say spring is a very difficult time of year because the combination of the temperature changes, wet conditions, and traffic moving on our roads will cause some of those streets and roadways to crumble and potholes are everywhere.
"We're talking about thousands, tens of thousands of potholes across the city. We have over the last several years been averaging 80,000 potholes either filled, or repaired annually and we have eight pothole trucks when they're all up and running," said Farkas.
Road crews in Colorado Springs plan to start working to address all of those potholes right away, but will prioritize the ones that pose the biggest safety and damage risks.
"If you were to take those lane miles and put them back to back to back it would stretch from here past Rome Italy right? So, if you can imagine 8 trucks sprinkled on a highway between here and Rome Italy there's a good chance you might not see one out there," said Farkas.
This is why it's so important to report potholes and roadways you're concerned about, you can do that by calling 385-ROAD OR visiting https://coloradosprings.gov/reportpothole
Please drive safely around these road crews, their safety as they work out in the roadway is always a concern.
