Pothole repairs leave some dissatisfied in Kansas City
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Mosetta Weefur pointed down 11th Street downtown at the patchwork of pothole repairs and expressed frustrated at seeing patches instead of smooth pavement.
“It is not sustainable,” she said. “Because every winter, this is my second going on third year living here, it’s the same spots that are being damaged and getting further wider.”
She’s been documenting the damage on the route she drives. She shared photos of two holes on Broadway, just north of 8th Street that she said caused $1900 in damage to her car, which she bought new in January of this year.
((PHOTO: Mosetta Weefur said she sustained $1900 in damage to her car after hitting these potholes on Broadway. - Credit Mosetta Weefur))
“I’ve had to call multiple times (to) 311,” Weefur said, “and every time I call 311, they’ll say somebody has already reported these multiple times, and I’m like, well, the potholes just keep getting worse.”
A TEMPORARY FIX ON SHORT ORDER
KCTV5 took her concerns to Kansas City Public Works Director Michael Shaw. He agreed that patching isn’t the best solution, but it’s the only way to promptly address the thousands they see after on the city’s 6400 lanes miles after snow season wraps.
“It is a lot of work that has to be done in a very short period of time to get the roads as safe as possible, as quickly as possible.”
Shaw said the city begins patching in late March, which they designate as the end of snow season. At that point, they remove the plows from public works trucks and have access to order large amounts of asphalt.
He said crews are assigned 12-hour shifts six days per week and it usually takes six to eight weeks to get every pothole in the city patched. In some cases, but not all, they will return for a more thorough repair that involves cutting out a section of roadway for a more thorough and lasting infill.
RESURFACING IS BEST
The best solution, as Weefur suggested, is resurfacing to create a smooth roadway. That’s part of the city’s long-term plan. They touted an increasing aggressive plan in 2021 as a better way to address potholes than patchwork repairs.
Shaw said the city can’t get to it all in a single season, but he said his department is moving faster than past administrations.
“Over the last few years we have resurfaced about 25% of our entire street network,” Shaw said. “In years past, it would take us many years to get to that.”
When the city cheerfully announced the beginning of resurfacing season this week, they said the city has a goal of resurfacing 400 lane miles this year, adding more than 1,500 lane miles resurfaced since 2021.
Shaw said the city began picking up the pace after creating its Asset Management Master Plan in 2022.
Previous to that, we were on about a 40 year lifecycle to repair and repave roads. There was a lot of deferred maintenance,” Shaw said. “Now, with our asset management system and our strategies we’re able to get there between 12 to 15 years.”
WHERE IT WILL HAPPEN
Strategic decisions on which roads to resurface each year consider many factors. One of them is utility work underway or planned.
For example, a new water main is being installed in the area of 8th Street and Broadway. That stretch won’t be resurfaced until that utility work is complete. Shaw remarked that water and sewer repairs are also part of infrastructure improvements and, whether it’s a city utility or a private utility, there is coordination.
“We actually work to give them a 3 to 5 year plan of roads that we are going to be resurfacing in the next 3 to 5 years and say, ‘Hey, utility company, do you have conflicts here?’” Shaw explained, “and if you do, then we actually push those roads back.”
In 2022, the city pulled permits from Spire Gas for failing to comply with its policy. If a utility makes cuts into a road that has recently resurfaced, the utility has to replace a larger chunk of roadway than they cut. The reason is that those cuts allow moisture to seep in, leading to potholes that develop at the cut.
Shaw said the resurfacing can begin while patching continues because the surfacing work is done by contractors, not city employees.
The city has not yet announced the exact areas where resurfacing will occur but the city’s web page lists factors considered and provides a way to track the progress.
DAMAGE CLAIMS
Weefur would like to see more money dedicated to resurfacing to speed the process further.
She provided KCTV5 with an email showing she filed a damage claim with the city five weeks ago. She got an email reply with a case number that indicated an investigator would contact her. She said she’s yet to hear from anyone despite numerous attempts to follow up.
A city spokesperson said claims go through the legal department and she can’t comment on pending legal matters.
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