The wide dips and depressions at the intersection of Sherman and East South streets are so deep, residents are driving around them, Akron City Council Member Johnnie Hannah said during the March 23 meeting of council’s Public Service committee.
Hannah asked Chris Ludle, the city’s public service director, to look into the dips in the road. Ludle said the best way for residents to report a dangerous pothole or road condition is to call 311.
Known as the “One Call to City Hall,” 311’s neighborhood assistance representatives are available to answer questions weekdays from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. The call center is closed on weekends and holidays.
Anyone calling from outside the City of Akron can dial 330-375-2311.
This service allows residents to report a pothole or request street resurfacing as well as get answers about recycling, request a tree for their street and many other features of the Service Department.
What happens after I call about a pothole in Akron?
Once the department learns of a pothole or problem with the street, Ludle said, city crews determine if it is simply a pothole that needs to be filled or if it’s an underlying water main break that requires immediate attention.
“Asphalt plants are getting ready to open, and our crews and highway maintenance will fix all these. So they are prioritizing the worst first, and once they get that hot asphalt, you’re going to see all these breaks starting to get restored,” Ludle said.
In the winter, he said road crews repair streets with a pre-mix blend rather than hot asphalt, which requires milder temperatures to cure properly.
“[Pre-mix] basically has a lot of oil in it and helps us get through the winter,” he said. “But this has been a freeze-thaw, tough winter with a lot of snow. So it’s been challenging at best.”
How do I report a pothole in Summit County?
To report a pothole or roadway defect in Summit County, call the Summit County Engineer’s Public Services Department at 330-643-2860 Monday thru Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. For roadway emergencies, call 911.
Non-emergency road situations can be reported via a contact form on the engineer’s website.
To ensure the repairs you are requesting are handled in a timely and efficient manner, the engineer’s office asks that you have the following information available at the time of your call:
- Your name. (Optional)
- Your address and daytime phone number. (It is important that you provide a contact number in the event more information is needed.)
- The location of the pothole, including the nearest cross street and/or address.
- A description of the problem. (There are other types of road defects that may appear as a pothole but require more intensive repairs, such as a water main break.)
- Any other pertinent information that may need to be relayed to the crews about the area or the problem.
Once the county is notified, a maintenance foreman will visit the site to determine how best to make the repairs. The engineer’s office tries to review pothole complaints by the next work day and schedule the repairs as soon as possible.
How do potholes form in the first place?
Potholes are caused by the expansion and contraction of water that has entered into the ground under the pavement.
As water freezes, it expands, according to an FAQ from the Summit County Engineer’s office. Under street pavement, the ice takes up more space, causing the pavement to expand, bend and crack, weakening it. When the ice melts, the pavement contracts, leaving gaps or voids where water can get in and be trapped. When the water freezes and thaws over and over, the pavement weakens and continues cracking.
As cars and trucks pass over these weakened spots in the road, pieces of the roadway material weaken and it becomes displaced or broken down, creating the pothole.
City of Akron using new pothole trucks
Two new trucks that require one driver and help lessen the need for repeated pothole repairs have been deployed by Akron’s Public Works Bureau.
Previously, crews used hot mix in the summer and cold mix in the winter, which often meant returning to the same potholes multiple times.
DuraPatcher uses a multi-step process to fill the holes, according to reporting from Signal Akron news partner 3News. Crews clean out the hole using high-pressure air, apply an emulsion, layer in treated aggregate and then top it with a dry aggregate — allowing drivers to use the road immediately.
The trucks, which cost about $300,000 each, also improve safety and eliminate the need for crews to be in the path of traffic.
