KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Pothole patching may have to be put on hold next week as rain makes its way to Kansas City.
After a busy winter, metro area roads are in desperate need of repairs. There's only so much ground that crews can cover, but progress is being made, city officials say.
"Just last week our crews filled 3,700 potholes using 300-something tons of asphalt," said Maggie Green, spokeswoman for the KCMO Public Works Department.
Drivers don't have to look far to find a pothole around the city, but the hope is that will soon change. Green said that since the beginning of the year, around 45,000 potholes have been patched.
At times, crews have been out six days a week. But with rain on the way next week, Green said the patching will have to be put on pause.
"The rain will kind of get into the cracks, pop the potholes back up, and so here we are again having to patch more potholes," Green said.
At the beginning of April, crews switched from patching with cold mix to hot mix, an asphalt that offers a more permanent fix.
On Thursday, the Kansas City Council's Transportation and Infrastructure Committee advanced four contracts to the full council representing $12.4 million in resurfacing projects for the next fiscal year beginning on May 1.
"Last year our street preservation budget was $10.8 million, and this year it's $16 million," Green said.
Once the contracts are approved, Green said work can begin. A list of projects will be released once modifications have been made that the committee requested Thursday.
In the meantime, potholes will continue to be patched. The city asks that any new ones be reported by calling 311.
"Any new pothole that you see, any pothole that has reopened, please contact 311 so we can get that out to our maintenance crews," Green said.
