City of Omaha receives hundreds of pothole repair requests

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Potholes are making their annual appearance in Omaha after recent winter storms and extreme temperature swings.

City Engineer Austin Rowser says potholes are so predictable, they’re practically a season of their own.

Rowser said, “You know, we do the snow season first, then the pothole, that’s our second season.”

Rowser says as of Friday, the city received about 200 requests for pothole repairs -- he says that number is low.

“To me it seems pretty mild at this point.”

However, you’ll see them on 72nd, Harrison, and 120th Streets around town -- and the year is still young.

Rowser said, “We still have frost on the ground. Potholes tend to form the most when the frost comes out of the ground because we lose all the support of the pavement underneath. It gets mushy.”

In January the city is typically in phase one: putting down cold patches.

“We put that down as kind of a triage in the late winter and the early spring to fill things in. We know that those patches tend to be temporary so we continue to monitor those conditions and try to keep those patches down as frequently as we can.”

Rower says phase two includes using hot asphalt. This phase begins when the weather warms up.

“So we start putting down some better patches that will last a little longer and then later in the summer do some crack sealing.”

The third and final phase is panel repair.

Rowser says the Street Preservation Bond Program has allowed the City of Omaha to tackle big problem areas like West Maple Road, and Pacific and Dodge Streets. However, the program is only in its fifth year, and it’s a 20-year program.

“We’ve got a long way to go but we’ve made a lot of progress and have a lot of headway.”

People who drive the roads everyday agree.

Report a pothole to the city here. You can also call the Mayor’s Hotline at (402) 444-5555.

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