Sacramento County spent millions to fix 35,000 potholes in one year. Does the fix last?

You’re cruising down a Sacramento street when, suddenly, you slam your tires into a pothole. It’s a gut-wrenching feeling, and almost all drivers have felt it at least once in their life.

The county and city work to repair potholes around Sacramento as soon as possible to improve driving conditions and safety, officials told The Bee. A Sacramento resident reached out to the Bee, asking:

“Why (does) the city/county use asphalt patches to fix potholes?” the reader asked. “They only seem to last a few months at best. Seems expensive and wasteful. Aren’t more lasting fixes available?”

Here’s how the city and county repair potholes — and what it costs:

Sacramento County

The county fixes its pavement with what it’s made of: asphalt concrete.

“Since all of our roadways are constructed using asphalt concrete (AC), we use AC to repair the potholes, which is a cost-effective and quick-fix measure for temporary repairs,” said Matthew Robinson, the county’s public information officer, in an email to The Bee.

That said, the temporary repair does mean it doesn’t last as long. Robinson said more permanent cover-ups that can last up to 20 years are more expensive and entail digging pavement sections and repaving with asphalt.

In 2021, the county filled a total of 35,000 potholes, with about 16,000 of them repaired permanently. This resulted in a direct cost of $5.5 million.

And due to limited funding, Robinson said that the county is unable to address all pavement concerns, accumulating a backlog in pavement maintenance of more than $800 million.

City of Sacramento

The city uses asphalt to fix potholes, but there are two different types — a hot mix design and cold mix design.

Both of the mixes are made with oil, sand and rock, but the hot mix comes from an asphalt plant and is heated to more than 300 degrees.

If the city gets a call to repair a pothole during working hours or if the site requires a large cover-up, Gabriel Morales, the operation general supervisor for the north area pavement department, said they will use a hot mix design. This requires a team to transport the mix from the plant to the site.

If it’s raining, after working hours or on the weekend, the city will use a cold mix design to patch up a pothole, Morales said, since it is conveniently stored in their supply yard. For this method, it only takes one person to complete the repair by applying the mix to the pothole and flattening it with a car tire or flat shovel.

The cold and hot mixes are meant to be permanent repairs, Morales said, lasting up to 15 to 20 years, and are cost-effective.

Ran into a pothole?

If you see a pothole in the city or county, you can contact 311.

In the county, you can submit a service request online to 311.saccounty.gov and if you’re within city limits, you can email 311@cityofsacramento.org.

This story was originally published November 22, 2022 at 9:28 AM.