Pothole city: Tulsa road crews fill thousands yearly
BY AMANDA BLAND & CASEY SMITH World Staff Writers
Saturday, January 21, 2012
1/21/12 at 7:05 AM
Nearly 30,000 potholes turned up on city streets during the past three years, most in midtown and south Tulsa, a Tulsa World analysis shows.
Residents reported 20 percent of the potholes, and 97 percent of those were repaired within five days, data gathered by the World shows.
The World analyzed computerized street maintenance data from the city of Tulsa between July 2008 and Oct. 7, 2011. During that time, city workers repaired 27,791 potholes. Areas with the most repair activity were all close to interstates and highways.
Two areas were tied for the top ranking in the number of potholes repaired:
- Neighborhoods and streets surrounding 31st Street and Yale Avenue.
- Neighborhoods and streets to the southeast of 51st Street and Harvard Avenue.
Ranking near the top are the mile between the most repaired areas - from 36th to 46th streets primarily between Harvard and Yale - and a pocket from just west of Utica Avenue to just east of Lewis Avenue immediately north and south of Interstate 244.
Dan Crossland, director of the city's streets and stormwater department, attributes damage in those areas to aging streets and a high level of daily traffic. Newer parts of town, farther south and to the east of midtown, don't require as much maintenance, he said.
Tulsa Public Works crew members Jeff Rahilly (left), Esten Milligan and Jerry Yocum patch a pothole at 39th Street and Florence Avenue on Thursday. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World
Residents of the affected areas agree.
Jeanie Newell is the president of the Mayo Meadow Neighborhood Association. Her neighborhood - between Yale and Pittsburg avenues from 21st Street to the Broken Arrow Expressway - falls inside one of the areas with the most repairs.
Newell said events at Expo Square bring extra traffic through her neighborhood several times a year.
"We have had more than our share of horse trailers and vendor carts rolling through the neighborhood for not only the fair, but other big events at the Expo, too," she said via email.
Neighborhood association surveys mirrored one commissioned by the Tulsa Community Foundation in February 2010. In both, satisfaction with Tulsa street maintenance was low.
The citywide survey showed 31 percent of respondents were satisfied with the condition of major streets. Satisfaction with residential streets ranked higher, at 58 percent.
Tulsa Public Works crew members Jeff Rahilly (left), Esten Milligan and Jerry Yocum patch a pothole at 39th Street and Florence Avenue on Thursday. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World
More than three-quarters of Tulsa residents surveyed also ranked pothole repair high on their list of funding priorities.
Surveys of the Mayo Meadow Neighborhood Association found infrastructure maintenance was one of the most important issues to their residents, Newell said.
The World's review shows street maintenance crews provided temporary repairs quickly, often within a day.
Of the potholes that residents reported to the city of Tulsa's Customer Care Center, 50 percent were filled within a day and 30 percent were filled within two days.
Less than 3 percent of potholes reported to the center took more than six days to repair.
Two potholes - near 31st Street and Riverside Drive and near Fourth Place and Pittsburg Avenue - took 54 and 49 days to repair, respectively. Crossland said he was unsure why those repairs took so long.
Eighty percent of potholes patched during the time studied were reported by city employees. Workers either took initiative and filled them or supervisors added the potholes to a daily work list.
A crew leader first marks the area to be repaired before a crew member uses a leaf blower to rid the area of debris. A crew member then douses the pothole with emulsion spray before workers fill the hole with asphalt from a hotbox truck, which keeps the asphalt heated. An asphalt roller is used to flatten the patch.
Original Print Headline: Patchwork streets
Amanda Bland 918-581-8413 Casey Smith 918-732-8106
amanda.bland@tulsaworld.com casey.smith@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Tulsa Public Works crew members Jeff Rahilly (left), Esten Milligan and Jerry Yocum patch a pothole at 39th Street and Florence Avenue on Thursday. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World
Tulsa Public Works crew members Jeff Rahilly (left), Esten Milligan and Jerry Yocum patch a pothole at 39th Street and Florence Avenue on Thursday. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World
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