Mother Nature Not Playing Ball

SIDNEY – Rain is in the forecast, at least for the most part of the week, and that’s a concern for those in the city street and county highway departments.

“Potholes continue to pop up,” said Public Services Director John Hehnke. “With the weather service talking inches of rain and snow, we’ll see a lot more runoff. We’re keeping an eye on the catch basins and trying to keep them clear.”

The moisture means that street crews’ efforts to fill in potholes has been impeded. Potholes cannot be filled with moisture present because the patch will not stay in place as effectively. The crews had been out since late last week patching some of the worst areas such as the 13th Avenue and Newton Street intersection.

The city isn’t alone in its concern for what the weather holds in store for road conditions. County Highway superintendent Tom Noel said the weather will negatively impact his departments ability to clean up and repair washed out areas flagged last week.

“We still have 13 miles of county roads closed,” Noel told The Sidney Sun-Telegraph on Monday. “We covered some of the rough spots, but there are soft areas in some other spots.”

Noel said runoff continues to be a concern, as it was the primary cause of the wash outs along several county roads. That runoff was created by melting snow late last week during days when the temperature crested 50 degrees.

“Our biggest concern is that people leave our barricades and flags alone,” Noel said. “They are there for the safety of the public.”

The county highway department has flagged dangerous areas along county roads. Problems are expected to continue, and may even increase with the worsening weather expected to continue until late this week. Noel said road conditions will depend on the quantity of precipitation, runoff and how soft the dirt of the roads become.