MASON CITY — Potholes usually don’t appear to the extent we are currently seeing on north-central Iowa highways and roads.
The Iowa Department of Transportation’s Pete Hjelmstad says the up-and-down temperatures mean negative things for the roads. “One of the hardest things on the roads is the freeze-thaw cycle. Iowa is one of the worst in the country for the freeze-thaw cycle, because there’s so many times that we do get above freezing during the day and then it freezes at night, and you get moisture into the roads where there’s cracks, it freezes, cars drive over it, and it starts making potholes, and we are dealing with that right now.”
Hjelmstad says the DOT has crews out working on those potholes. “Right now, the patch we use is called a cold mix. It helps, don’t get me wrong, it’s a lot better than not doing anything, but it doesn’t stick like the permanent ones do that you can use when the temperatures are above freezing. We will be out there, we will be doing what we can to make sure the roads are in as good as shape as possible, but be aware that you may see crews on the road doing things you’re not used to seeing them do this time of year.”
Hjelmstad says if you see crews doing patching work, use caution to make sure you and the crews remain safe.
