Potholes

In Minneapolis we have potholes..  In fact you can listen on the radio to pothole alerts.  When I am driving a client around I have to warn them not to attempt to drink their coffee.  It will end up on their chin and not in their mouth.  The ruts are really something this year and you get tossed around in your car as you drive around.  This is not true only for the city streets.  You find potholes on freeways and everywhere.

I was listening to a Minneapolis city engineer and he said this is the worst he has seen the streets be in 15 years.  Does that make us feel better? No.  Usually, they do not try to fill the potholes until after April 1st.  They could not wait that long this year as the broken chunks of pavement were causing accidents.  I have heard one of the reasons we have had it so bad this year is due to all the sunny days in February.  The sunshine was absorbed by the asphalt, softened the tar, and the tires of the car broke up the street.  Now the snow is melting and we are having rain in Minneapolis.  The holes are filling with water and this accelerates the damage.  The water washes away loose particles of the road surface. 

I did a little research to see if only us in Minneapolis have this problem.  I guess people all over have potholes, they just call them something else.  I learned kettle can also be a pothole.  In the Western part of the United States they call them a chuckhole.  I don't care what name you give them, they are a pain.  I drive by service stations and they have pothole specials for wheel alignment.  It goes to show one persons problem is the next persons' reward.

For those of you looking for the Loch nest monster, there is rumor he is living in one of the deep potholes in Minneapolis.  Children walking to school have been warned to stay away from the potholes as they might never be seen again.  Dogs have been walking with their masters and have had to start dog paddling!  If it gets warm real fast here in Minneapolis the mosquitoes will have new breeding ponds.  I wonder if they will find walleye in the potholes.  This is not joke.  We are the state of 10,000 lakes and that many potholes.

If you are coming to visit bring along your waders.  I think you will find them useful.