Lincoln mayor signs emergency order for the Transportation and Utilities Department

The city of Lincoln is taking advantage of the warmer weather and filling as many potholes as possible. 

“We intend to use all hands and all available resources to repair as many locations as possible over the next few days,” Mayor Chris Beutler said. 

More than 60 employees are currently repairing potholes which is triple the number normally assigned to crews.

They have 100 tons of cold mix in stock which can patch roughly 6,000 potholes. 

“We have more deliveries regularly coming in to make sure we have an adequate supply to keep our crews rolling,” Tim Byrne, the maintenance operations manager, said. 

With the emergency order in effect, city crews will work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

“It goes with the season. You have snow, we got rain, we got ice… holes pop and you got to put them back,” Tim Eliker, equipment operator one, said. 

Eliker was in charge of driving on of the city’s four spray-patching machines on Monday. Using the truck, he can patch a pothole in minutes. 

Miki Esposito, Transportation and Utilities director, reminds everyone that patching potholes is temporary. 

“Patching during colder months ensures the street is serviceable in the short term, where snow, ice and rain is still in the forecast,” Esposito said. 

When asphalt is available, the city will go over the potholes again to ensure they don’t reemerge. 

You can report potholes on lincoln.ne.gov, UpLNK (available in all app stores), or call the pothole hotline at 402-441-4676.