Pothole problems: Road improvements are headed to Louisville
Louisville Mayor Will Hill said the roads in the city have seen their fair share of the weather impacts.
LOUISVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Snow and sleet may affect your commute in obvious ways, but when the snow and ice are gone, it’s the beginning of life for potholes, and the cars on the road act like a jackhammer.
“When snow, I’ll use that example, when that melts, it will fall into the crevices of the road. And boom it’ll refreeze. What does water do when it refreezes? it expands,” said Kevin Stafford, Manager of Neel Schaffer Engineering. “Next thing you know, a car runs over the top of it and starts breaking up the road.”
Kevin Stafford with Neel Schaffer Engineering used an analogy to compare the snow and sleet on the road to the ice you get from Sonic.
“Sonic Ice is made of a bunch of small shaved ice particles that are compacted together, right? Over time, whether it be traffic, or going over the top of it, it gets compacted. So, you can imagine chewing on that sonic ice. It stays compacted and stays in the form of your teeth. So, there is the same difference,” Stafford said. “That’s what’s happening on our roads, it compacts it down into the road.”
Louisville Mayor Will Hill said the roads in the city have seen their fair share of the weather impacts.
“We always in our community have a defining moment,” said Hill. “The Tornado of 2014, and after there was heavy traffic, heavy trucks to remove debris. We’ve had excessive use; we’ve had extreme temperatures, from hot to cold, cold being the worst. And then we’ve experienced some excessive rain.”
For the past nine years, the city has been working toward recovery efforts.
And when the pipes and infrastructure underground freeze, it affects the roads too.
But Hill said not to fret, because they will begin to pave streets this year. And that is already set in motion.
“We’ve done all the financing. We’ve got the contract. What we need now is just time and good weather,” Hill said. “One specific street of interest is north Columbus Avenue, but it will be much more than just that street.”
Hill said progress doesn’t come easy or cheap, but it does require patience. He said this will be a very widespread project that could take six to 10 months after they start.
