City of Cleveland’s Pothole Repair Plan

CLEVELAND – Every year, during the winter and spring months, the City of Cleveland is
confronted with the issue of an increasing number of potholes developing throughout the City.
Freeze/thaw cycles and frequent snow plowing can damage the streets. This year has been
particularly challenging for the Division of Streets as snowfall and extreme cold temperatures
have been more severe than recent years.
Nonetheless, when the weather permits, the Division of Streets deploys six to eight crews per
day to patch potholes throughout the City. So far in this year, the Division of Streets has
utilized 430 tons of hot asphalt and 420 tons of cold patch asphalt. In addition to daily crews,
the City is taking the additional steps.
Immediate Protections
Today, the Division of Streets continued to identify the areas with the worst pothole issues. The
following streets and corresponding protections were taken:
 Payne Avenue over I-90 was closed for partial deck repairs.
 The West 53rd Street Bridge is scheduled to be closed from Clark to Walworth for repairs.
 In the 1200 block of Fairhill, protection barrels were placed at various locations.
 At East 116th Street south of Buckeye Avenue, protection barrels were placed at various
locations.
Contracting Additional Patch Crews
The Division of Streets will finalize agreements with private contractors to supplement City
repair crews with necessary patching.
Concrete Street Resurfacing
The best way to repair concrete streets, such as Rocky River Drive and West 117th Street, both
of which have seen significant damage this season, is to pour concrete, which requires a
minimum of two days with above freezing temperatures. Where necessary, concrete streets
will receive “immediate protection” as noted above. Currently, the northbound and southbound
lanes on Rocky River Drive north of Puritas Avenue and the northbound lanes of West 117th
Street, south of Lorain Avenue are closed for necessary repairs, weather permitting.

Pothole Repair 101
The Division of Streets utilizes both cold patch and hot asphalt to repair potholes; however,
these repairs are only possible when the weather conditions are right. The cold patch method
is primarily used to make critical repairs when it is not warm enough to use hot asphalt. Cold
patch, which is made from an aggregate of asphaltic material, is pliable in cold, dry weather.
The best method to repair potholes is to use hot asphalt and the ideal time for these repairs is
on dry days when the temperature is at least 40 degrees Fahrenheit or above. The Division of
Streets is capable of making their own hot asphalt during the winter when hot asphalt plants
are closed, but the amount is often insufficient to cover all the necessary repairs. Beginning
April 1st, hot asphalt plants begin their production and the Division of Streets is able to
increase the amount of repairs possible.
Today, the City’s repair crews fixed potholes at the following locations:

 East 40th S. Marginal to Woodland
 Prospect East 9th to East 4th.

 Chester East 30 to East 18th Westbound.
 East 9th at RT 2 on Bridge Deck.
 West 25th Clark to Daisy.
 West 117th Madison to Edgewater.
 Cedar Carnegie to Ambleside.
 East 143rd kinsman and Barlett Intersections.
 Warner Vineyard to Connecticut.
 Tourney Grand Division to Cardwell.
 East 147th Street (All major potholes).
 Chester Euclid to East 101st