The extended warm spell has prompted public works crews to temporarily shift modes from winter to early spring.
Last week In Kenosha for instance, crews were cleaning sewers, trimming trees, sweeping streets, and most importantly, filling potholes, according to Streets Superintendent John Prijic.
Three crews were out on pothole patrol using "cold patch," a type of asphalt that isn't quite as effective as the summer hot mix that's only available once the plants resume production for the road-building season.
Prijic says it's a doubly-tough job if the potholes are wet, like they were last week. Any moisture left inside once the patch is shoveled in will eventually freeze and pop the asphalt back out, he says. "That's why you see a lot of failure during the winter months and even in the early spring, when you have a lot of frost-freeze cycles."
When they aren't responding to complaints from pothole-weary drivers, crews take more methodical sweeps through town in search of rough road.
With the mild weather expected to continue through most of the upcoming work week, three of the city's five street sweepers are in operation, Prijic said. The other two are not available because they're "torn apart" for routine maintenance.
While the rain means the the city saves money by not having to plow, the roads take more of a beating from the continual rounds of freezing and thawing.
The best scenario, Prijic says, is one in which the temperature stays below freezing for the duration of winter. Some of us through may think differently about the value of a January thaw.
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