DES MOINES, Iowa — The time Des Moines potholes to be filled has arrived, and the city's Public Works Department has seen an increase in reports of potholes compared to previous weeks.
Snow melting away, along with the amount of snowfall and days of zubzero temperatures, has created seemingly endless potholes.
"When we have a hard freeze like we saw with that artic blast just a couple of days ago that lasted for a really long time, it pushes the frost depth even further down into the ground [more] than normal," Gano said. "That ground then melts … and causes breaks."
That type of weather the could lead to more potholes than normal, but Gano does not expect the pothole problem to be as severe as the city had in 2018, which saw triple the number of annual potholes.
To fix the increasing potholes, public works crews have been out attending to them. For the week of Feb. 22, reports of potholes increased by six times the number of the previous week.
If someone is driving and runs over a pothole, there are multiple ways to report it. A person can call 515-283-4950, create a request at myDSMmobile.DSM.city or report potholes on the MyDSMmobile app.
"My DSMmobile lets you drop a pin on a map, and tells us exactly where the pothole is," Gano said.
The app also lets users upload pictures of the pothole.
Public works crews try to respond to those reports within 24 to 48 hours after receiving them.
Gano said this is to "keep the roadways safe for high-speed travel."