Q&A: Those Darn Potholes in Lakewood

Is it me or are there more potholes in Lakewood created from the most recent snowstorm?

Potholes seem to appear whenever a bad storm impacts the region. I asked Desiree Winkler, transportation division manager for the city of Lakewood, some general questions about potholes and how drivers can report potentially damaging potholes.

Patch: What causes potholes to show up after storms or bad weather?

Winkler: It is called freeze thaw damage. When the pavement has cracks to allow water into the pavement and/or below the pavement, it freezes and expands.  When it thaws, voids are left in the pavement structure, then upon loading, it breaks up the pavement, chunks of pavement come out, and there is your pothole.

Patch: Has the city had any discussion about how to deal with potholes created from the most recent snowstorm?

Winkler No special treatment for new potholes. We strive to have potholes filled with cold mix within 24 hours of being made aware or finding the potholes.

Patch What's the city policy on large potholes big enough to do damage to a vehicle if driven over it?

Winkler: Claims may be filed at Lakewood City Hall for vehicle damage caused by potholes. The city insurance company generally will only pay on claims where the city knew about the pothole; had the ability to respond to fix it; yet did not do anything about it within a reasonable time frame.

Patch: Has the city conducted any kind of search of bad potholes around the city large enough to damage a wheel or tire?

Winkler: The city through the course of storm clean up and other regularly scheduled work has noted where large potholes are and filled them in a timely matter.  We mostly count on citizen calls to notify us of pothole locations and we have gotten quite a few since the snowstorm.

Patch: Is there a permanent fix to these potholes?

Winkler: The city street budget along with the city’s general fund Budget is in crisis right now. We are unsure if we will be able to conduct more permanent patching this summer (or if so, how much).

Patch: Is there a cheap or more expensive way of fixing a pothole?

Winkler: The “immediate” cheap fix for a pothole is to fill it with a “cold mix” asphalt product. This takes the least amount of time as the hole is cleaned out of loose material and the cold mix tamped into the hole. This is a temporary fix, but under "light” volumes of traffic can be effective up to several months. The more permanent fix, is to cut the pothole square, excavate out the area, place new base rock if needed, compact, then bring in one or more layers of hot-mix asphalt (HMA). This takes the most time, and is the most expensive, and is weather dependent (must be dry and above 45 degrees and rising). This fix can last as long or longer than the entire roadway since it is essentially new pavement.

Editor's Note: To report a bad pothole, contact the public works operations and maintenance number at 253-267-1628. It is forwarded to an answering service during non-working hours also.