Bloomington Wants You to Report Potholes
By: Jacob Long, WMBD/WYZZ-TV
Updated: May 20, 2009
BLOOMINGTON -- The city's streets might soon be getting a whole lot smoother. A 30-day campaign dedicated to filling potholes is underway. But it's up to you to make it a success.
Everywhere you look in Bloomington, there always seems to be a pothole. Our streets are known for them. "It's pretty much you have dodge and weave just to miss the potholes throughout the streets," says Heather Cavinder. She's dreaded potholes for years, especially since moving to the 900 block of Oakland. She says potholes simply bring one word to mind: "Horrible."
Monday was a different story, though. Only a block away from her home, a crew was hard at work filling up what winter left behind. Bloomington Public Works Director Jim Karch says his workers are doing more grinding, trying to get down and get rid of some core pavement so it doesn't just pop right back out. This is the campaign in action, he says.
"We're making a concerted effort at the beginning of the construction season to do as much with potholes that people always have an issue with," Karch says. For the next 30 days, he says crews will be out in force fixing potholes with "hot mix asphalt." It's a material designed to stick around. Karch says, "The hot mix asphalt plants have opened up and that allows us to get much better quality material that we need to get longer-term patch work."
But it's up to the people of Bloomington to tell crews where to go. Karch says the location by Cavinder's home is just a start. "We're trying to do a much better job of saying 'here's a place where you can call, or here's an e-mail you can use,'" he says.
The next location could be in your neighborhood. And based on what Cavinder's seen so far, she says you'll like the road ahead. "It is some hope. I just hope they follow up and keep up with them," she says.
If you know of potholes that need attention, you can call (309) 434-BUMP or e-mail the city at pothole@cityblm.org. You have until June 15th.
Everywhere you look in Bloomington, there always seems to be a pothole. Our streets are known for them. "It's pretty much you have dodge and weave just to miss the potholes throughout the streets," says Heather Cavinder. She's dreaded potholes for years, especially since moving to the 900 block of Oakland. She says potholes simply bring one word to mind: "Horrible."
Monday was a different story, though. Only a block away from her home, a crew was hard at work filling up what winter left behind. Bloomington Public Works Director Jim Karch says his workers are doing more grinding, trying to get down and get rid of some core pavement so it doesn't just pop right back out. This is the campaign in action, he says.
"We're making a concerted effort at the beginning of the construction season to do as much with potholes that people always have an issue with," Karch says. For the next 30 days, he says crews will be out in force fixing potholes with "hot mix asphalt." It's a material designed to stick around. Karch says, "The hot mix asphalt plants have opened up and that allows us to get much better quality material that we need to get longer-term patch work."
But it's up to the people of Bloomington to tell crews where to go. Karch says the location by Cavinder's home is just a start. "We're trying to do a much better job of saying 'here's a place where you can call, or here's an e-mail you can use,'" he says.
The next location could be in your neighborhood. And based on what Cavinder's seen so far, she says you'll like the road ahead. "It is some hope. I just hope they follow up and keep up with them," she says.
If you know of potholes that need attention, you can call (309) 434-BUMP or e-mail the city at pothole@cityblm.org. You have until June 15th.
