Bend crews patching potholes, preparing for winter

Bend street crews have been pouring asphalt and patching potholes around the city of Bend during the busy construction season.

According to a news release from the city, during the 2017 construction season, the Streets and Operations Department preserved 94 lane miles of pavement. Crews also repaired 1,561 potholes and built 169 ADA curb ramps.

“There’s a lot of good things happening on our roads,” Streets Supervisor Paul Neiswonger said Thursday. “Whatever they are at currently, at the condition they are, they are definitely getting better. We still have a ways to go as we continue our funding efforts and preach our philosophy: Keep our good roads good.”

Bond and Wall streets also got a facelift during the summer as crews repaved the road and added new signage and new striping for downtown to help alleviate parking problems.

Now, crews are focusing their efforts on planning for another cold winter.

Streets Division Manager Charles Swann said last winter was a worst case scenario for his department, the heavy snow taking a toll on heavy equipment, some were getting maintained and ready for the season.

“We have a couple of more staff members on board,” Swann said. “Part of our game plan is doing some shift schedule changes, running different operations and starting our 24-hour operations at a different time to help with fatigue of our staff and to maximize the number of pieces of equipment that we have in the street at one time.”

Crews also have brought in 9,000 tons of sand that will be used on the roads during this winter.

Swan said the department will work with the City Council on a communication plan to work with residents to move vehicles parked on the side of the road, so snowplows can access their streets.

The Streets and Operations Department will present its snow removal plan to councilors in October.