Pothole Problems

COLORADO SPRINGS – Some may be be waiting up to a week for potholes to be repaired near their homes. The city sites budget concerns as the reason for the slow service. The city’s budget for fixing holes in the road in ’09 was $18 million, now it’s $9 million. Streets Division worker Bill Mortiz said workers used to be able to repave or seal 10% of the roads each year, now it’s down to 1%.

“There are freeze thaw cycles that we’re coming out of right now,” said Moritz. “The ground is starting to thaw out a little bit {and} we are seeing more potholes.”

The Ritchers live near Marksheffel and Bradley. John Ritcher said his car needs another front end alignment as a result of the potholes in their area. John said, “every morning when I drive to work it’s so bone jarring that I avoid them.”

City officials understand the problem.

“In the years past it used to be a hole here and a hole this year it seems like connect the dots,” Moritz said.

In some cases they say they might have to dig up whole intersections to fix the problem. Two city workers have to cover more than 800 lane miles.