CITY

Snow, cold make keeping up with potholes a tall order for Sioux Falls City Hall: Here's how to avoid them

Joe Sneve
Argus Leader

Frequent snow falls in January and February have street crews scrambling to keep up with pothole repair efforts in Sioux Falls. 

Each winter, cities in the upper Midwest deal with the perennial challenge of keeping streets smooths as cold weather wreak havoc on road surface conditions. And this year is no different.

But several snow falls in recent weeks have meant the bulk of the Sioux Falls Public Works employees have been busy keeping streets plowed, which has kept them from tending to potholes as quickly as they'd like.

Typically, the city gets potholes filled within 48 hours of receiving a report. But the backlog now has that fix rate at between four and five days, Public Works Director Mark Cotter said Wednesday.

Potholes can be seen on Minnesota Avenue in Sioux Falls, S.D., Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019.

More:Sioux Falls drivers will soon be able to report potholes through a cellphone app

"In the two and a half to three weeks, we've probably only pothole-patched about four days," he said.

Each year, the city of Sioux Falls fills about 7,000 potholes. In 2018, street crews proactively filled about 4,500 road divots while citizens reported another 2,830.

That can be a futile effort in cold weather months. Cotter said the materials used to fill potholes aren't designed to be administered in the cold, so when potholes get filled when the weather is below 25 degrees, the fix is usually temporary.

The Sioux Falls street division filled 7,300 potholes in 2018, an effort made more challenging when those workers double as snow plow drivers in the winter months.

"This time of year, the pothole is cold and the material is cold, so it’s hard to get a good adhesion," he said. "When you're using cold mixes, you probably have a 20 to 50 percent chance of retention."

In contrast, potholes filled during the summer typically have a 80 to 90 percent chance of staying in place through the duration of the warm weather season.

"We’ll put the full court press on in February, March and April," Cotter said. "So we've really got about two and a half months of a really challenging time where we put a lot of resources out to improve your daily commute."

Cotter encourages drivers save the pothole hotline number 605-367-8002 in their cellphones and report potholes when they see them. The city will also launch a geo-locating app in the coming weeks that will allow the public to let City Hall know where potholes are at.

Hate potholes? Here's how to avoid them and protect your car

A 2016 survey from the American Automobile Association found that potholes have cost U.S. drivers about $3 billion a year for the past five years in damages to their vehicles.

A pothole starts with a crack in the street that fills with water that then expands as it turns to ice when temperatures freeze overnight. The process repeats until a sometimes-large chunk of road is dislodged.

If you do encounter a pothole, however, here are some helpful tips to avoid them, courtesy of State Farm Insurance:

Take familiar roads: Traveling on roads you know well will help you avoid potholes.

Travel on well-lit roads: When driving at night, travel on well-lit roads so you can see the surface.

Slow down: Give yourself a chance to see the pothole and avoid it before you’re in it.

Avoid tailgating: Allow time to see road conditions ahead.

Brake before impact: There’s less damage when a tire is rolling than during aggressive braking when the load on suspension, wheels and tires is greater, potentially causing more damage on impact with a pothole.

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Here are additional tips provided by AAA:

Routinely check your tires for proper inflation: This is your best protection, as a tire is the primary “cushion” between a pothole and your vehicle’s wheels and suspension.

Don’t swerve: Look out for collision threats, such as using your rear-view mirror, before attempting to dodge a pothole.

Listen for odd vibrations: Pothole impact can dislodge wheel weights, damage a tire or wheel and bend or break suspension components.

Check the wheel alignment: Hitting a pothole can knock your car’s wheels out of alignment and affect the steering.

The Des Moines Register contributed to this story.