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City To Conduct 3-Day Pothole Blitz Next Week

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – An unusual pre-winter pothole blitz is planned for Pittsburgh next week. The city hopes this early attack with so-called "hot patch" will mean fewer holes this winter.

The city's 311 Response Center has already received nearly 1,000 service requests for potholes.

Additionally, the warmer weather allows crews to put down a "hot patch," which should last a lot longer than the cold patches they use during the winter months.

As a result, crews will conduct a three-day "pothole blitz" next week.

Next Monday through Wednesday, Public Works crews will focus on the 1,000 pothole complaints. The pothole brigade will double up its forces, primarily on the South Side and the East End.

"There are some divisions that are actually in good shape, and we're going to move those crews over to the divisions that have a greater need," said Mike Gable with the Pittsburgh Public Works Department. "You're going to see more trucks in that division than on a normal basis."

Narrow Broughton Avenue in Bloomfield is the kind of street that the city gets complaints about. The pock-marked street comes from years of budget-constrained neglect.

"It's 20 years of not providing the proper amount of paving," Gable said. "This is what's going to come of it."

The city is now repaving more roads than ever before. They hope that means a lot less potholes in the years to come.

"With the paving we've done, the city, in conjunction with the utilities and even the county and state..." Gable said. "In the city this year, we've hit a good number. We're going to be close to a hundred miles this year."

But there's a long way to go, especially when you consider the city has nearly 900 miles of paved roads.

One of the reasons they're paving more roads this year is because of declining oil prices. Cheaper oil means cheaper road material. The city can afford to pave more miles, hopefully with fewer potholes.

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