HELENA — Snow is melting, revealing potholes across the city of Helena. Both city workers and drivers are trying to deal with them.
“Anybody who’s lived here for any length of time knows this time of year it's just pothole heaven,” said Helena driver, Bonnie Baker.
(Watch to learn more about how to report a pothole in need of repair)
Potholes can be a nuisance for drivers, a headache that, thanks to the weather, cannot be permanently fixed right now.
Chris Couey, the City of Helena's deputy director of transportation systems, explained why permanently patching potholes can be tricky at this time of year.
“We use a cold mix to pack it down, and that's typically how we fill them this time of year. So, it's meant to be more of a temporary fix. And then, when we get more into spring, they'll go out and put a proper patch in place,” Couey explained.
Until the weather warms enough to complete full road maintenance and repairs, drivers are navigating rough roads in some spots around the city. In 2024, the city says it repaired almost 2,000 potholes. Each year, the city budgets between $50,000 and 75,000 for potholes and other road repairs.
Reporting potholes can help the city stay on top of repairing them.
“We’re looking, but obviously the residents and visitors to our city are out and looking a lot more. There's more of them than there are of us. And so if you submit a request through the city's app, it'll get prioritized in our list, and we'll get to them as quick as we can,” said Couey.
The city’s MyHelena app is available on Google Play and the Apple App Store. More information can also be found here.
