Just how many potholes city crews have filled so far in 2020 isn’t known but $30,000 has already been spent in dealing with the craters which jar vehicles and drivers alike.
And so far city public works director Rob Schibli is describing this winter as an average one for pothole appearances.
“Weather variations definitely impact the timing of when they appear,” notes Schibli of the freeze/thaw cycle in which water seeping into a roadbed expands when it freezes, loosening up asphalt.
While the city may not track pothole numbers, it does track how many hours city crews spend filling them — normally 1,500 to 2,000 hours a year.
In terms of total dollars spent, city budget records show approximately $135,000 was devoted to pothole-filling in 2019.
City crews use a cold mix contained in either barrels or one-tonne megabags.
A city notice early last month asked residents to report the location of potholes they’ve seen and encountered.
READ MORE: Potholes expected to be bad in Terrace this spring
Aside from filling in potholes, the city does place new asphalt over particularly bad stretches of roads and has $200,000 devoted for that this year.
But it’s still too early to decide where that will happen, says Schibli.
What is known is where the city will rebuild entire blocks, often combining that work with new civic utility infrastructure.
It has $1 million tagged for the block of Munroe from Straume to McConnell in the Horseshoe and $350,000 set aside for the 5200 Block of Mountain Vista Drive on the Bench.
Also listed in city budget documents is a reconstruction of Floyd St. which branches off to the north of Mountain Vista. That’s to cost $600,000 with $200,000 coming from the city and $400,000 from the subdivision developer in that area.