By Kiara Catanzaro
Staff Writer
Cold weather and potholes irritate students, but with spring around the corner long-overdue repairs will be made to the roads near Francis Hall.
“Sometimes in critical situations we may make a mid-winter repair with a cold-patch material,” Philip Winger, associate vice president for facilities, said. “But this is a temporary fix at best, as the cold-patch does not bond well with the road and will soon be displaced in turn. A better fix for a small defect is to carefully clean the hole, and then use hot asphalt.”
Students are irritated with the current condition of the roads because they cause damage to their vehicles.
Liam Hanvey, a sophomore strategic communication and digital media major, is most concerned with the potholes in the parking lot near the Gardens Apartment. He said they are so bad that driving over the potholes caused the tires of his car to deflate one particular day.
“The potholes are a really annoying issue that I’ve noticed over the past few weeks, especially during the winter months,” Hanvey said.
Aside from the potholes located near the Gardens Apartments, Hanvey said even more potholes surround the front and back of Francis Hall.
“It’s not a trying issue, but it definitely shows the lack thereof of student funding that should go toward maintenance of the school rather than other infrastructures like the Warming House.”
Winger explained it’s necessary for maintenance to delay the pothole repair until the spring.
“There is some damage to the roadway in front of Francis, and a good deal more to the loop around back,” Winger said. “The back stretch especially is becoming a priority. We do not expect to use cold-patch there unless we have to, as that approach is wasteful compared to more permanent repairs.”
“Very often the defect in the road is larger than the visible hole because of the intrusion of water beneath the road,” Winger said. “In that case, a proper repair requires cutting out a larger rectangular area, removing all the wet soil and building a proper sub-grade out of gravel before replacing the asphalt. It is a warm-weather job.”
However, Winger says the potholes surrounding Francis Hall are considered a priority for repairs during the spring semester.
