The City is receiving numerous requests to respond to potholes, alleys that have ice ridges and ruts, sidewalks and to address large snow piles that are resulting in visibility concerns.  This snow season, the 4th snowiest on record so far for the St. Cloud area, has resulted in a significant increase in maintenance related activities for the Public Works Department.

Week of 3/27/2023 Public Works Maintenance Plan - The primary focus for this week will be to address the alley concerns to the best of our ability, along with the filling of as many potholes as we can. Unfortunately the weather forecast looks like a continuation of below normal temperatures and precipitation is likely to occur Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week.  This will limit staff's ability to fill potholes, as for the most part, the road surface needs to be dry before the product can be applied for optimal performance. 

ALLEYS - The Public Works Department maintains over 42 miles of alleys. Due to the snow volume, the freeze/thaw cycles, the many different forms of precipitation received (snow, ice, rain) and compaction, most alleys throughout the City are in poor condition. All alleys have been scraped at least one time in the last week and a half.  The temperatures are well below normal for this time of year, and the below freezing temperatures are making it difficult to scrape off the ice in the alleys. Over scraping to the surface can cause ice ridges that can prohibit vehicles from getting over that ridge without any vehicle damage.  When conditions are favorable, and ice is removed, trucks are needed to haul that away.

POTHOLES - There is an increase in the number of potholes appearing for all agencies that maintain public roadways, this includes cities, townships, counties and state agencies.  This is due to the amount of freeze/thaw cycles and the amount of precipitation that is occurring and getting through the cracks of the asphalt.  The City is completing inspections and taking pothole calls and emails from residents and motorists.  These roadways with the potholes are added to a list and prioritized based off several factors including but not limited to; type of road (arterial, collector, residential), traffic counts, speeds, type of vehicle traffic, and severity of pothole identified.