A major nemesis on our roads? Potholes.
If you drive, you're all too familiar with the population of potholes. In 2017, the City of Minneapolis filled over 2,200 potholes. Last year, however, they did an unprecedented job.
"Our incredible city crews managed to fill 9,359 potholes," says Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. "How many pothole complaints did we have alerting us of another potholes that we needed to fill? You guessed it, 9,359. Every single time that somebody called into the city of Minneapolis to have a pothole filled, our incredible team was out there making sure that it happened."
That easily set a new record because of last year's near record snowfall. The city was inundated with potholes like never before.
"Now, to give you a frame of reference, they filled more potholes than the previous three years combined," said Frey. "The second biggest year in history, in terms of snowfall and pothole filling, was actually 2019 with 5,200 potholes. So we nearly doubled the record."
That won't be an issue this year. With only seven or so inches of snow across the metro in late-January, and record warmth coming next week, city crews surely won't be as busy.
For the 2024 budget, Frey has invested $470,000 for new equipment and $500,000 for snow clearance.