FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Matt Maisel
Director of Communications, City of Harrisburg
(717) 255-7295
[email protected]
April 4, 2023
HARRISBURG — The annual rite of spring has arrived: filling potholes.
City of Harrisburg Public Works employees, led by Highway Manager John Watson, are out on city streets almost daily, filling and patching dangerous potholes which may have opened up during the cold, winter months.
On this day, Public Works crews are on a sunsoaked South 13th Street near Cloverly Terrace, patching up the latest round of driving dangers.
“The sun and weather dictates when we can go out and fill potholes,” says Watson. “Today is a perfect day. The potholes filled in good weather will last longer.”
Harrisburg’s Public Works team fills potholes based on severity and urgency, but only based off of what they witness while out in the street. That is why Watson is urging city residents to report potholes using the city’s online pothole reporting form at harrisburgpa.gov/potholes. There, you can drop a pin at the location of the pothole, enter a brief description to help crews locate it, and hit submit. You can also call Public Works directly over the phone, at 717-412-4320.
When crews arrive on scene, they first try to remove any water and debris from the pothole. Then, during the late-winter and early-spring months, they’ll use cold patch filling, which is designed specifically for pavement in colder weather. Workers will mix the cold patch in a hot box to warm it up, then they tamper it down and steamroll it to make it compact, and fit tightly into the hole.
These are considered temporary fixes; Public Works will return during the warmer months to fill the holes with a hot mix.
“We know driving over the potholes are a problem. They can cause car issues and it’s a hazard and eyesore,” Watson said. “We in Public Works, we work for the residents and we want to keep the streets as safe as possible.”
