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Early Spring Means Early Spring Cleanup for Spokane

City street work
Paige Browning
/
Spokane Public Radio

While skiers and geologists note the negative impacts of a warm winter, street crews have taken advantage of the weather in Spokane. Monday, the mayor filled potholes with the city’s street crew, who said they’re ahead of schedule this year.

That’s the sound of workers filling a pothole in West Central, roughly number 820 for the year so far. By this time in 2014, crews had filled only 440 throughout the city. Streets Department Director Mark Serbouseksays they’re doing work normally left for spring.

Serbousek: “So we’ve been cleaning up all the winter debris that gets on the roads in the winter, our sand that gets on there. Leaves that we didn’t get picked up and such, we’ll be sweeping those up here all winter long. We get to take care of the guard rails that are hit, because we did have icy roads this winter.”

Serbousek says they will get out the summer equipment to do asphalt work early.

Low snowfall has meant few plow days, but because of cold and ice in mid-winter the city actually increased its usage of sand and salt. Crews used 1,200 tons of sand this winter, compared to 400 tons last winter, and more than 630,000 gallons of deicer this year, compared to 450,000 last year.

If you have a pothole on your street you can call the hotline at 509-625-7733. That’s 625-7733.

Copyright 2015 Spokane Public Radio

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