From the City of Lawrence:

Contact: Megan Gilliland, communications manager, (785) 832-3406

1) Citys pothole patching total up to 2,368

(Lawrence, Ks.) The City of Lawrence street division continued their assault on potholes this week. Since Monday, Jan. 11, a total of 594 potholes were reported through the citys online and telephone reporting systems. These notifications, and surveys by city crews, have resulted in a total of 2,368 potholes patched throughout the community over a two-week period. 85.5 tons of asphalt has been used to patch potholes throughout the community.

We have had three, four-person crews working each day to fill potholes,said Mark Thiel, assistant director of public works. At times, crews are patching the same potholes each day because of high traffic volumes.

One area that crews are patching on a daily basis is the area near the 2nd and Locust intersection. This area sees high traffic volumes daily and, due to construction, is the only access point into the city from north Lawrence. The roadway in this area is scheduled for maintenance in summer 2010.

From Gnome: 594 potholes reported.
2368 total potholes fixed!

Should we do something special for the 5000th pothole?

More snow is coming this winter. Should that winning pothole get a special decoration? Do the pothole patching crews sign their work?

In this blog, you can name your worst pothole of this season and tell why its the mother of all potholes.

public works reporting on the web is at: www.lawrenceks.org/public_works

There's a problem at the North Lawrence detour, but you can't blame this on the officials, the road workers, or the people of North Lawrence.

I was by the detour for a while this afternoon and observed something funny. Drivers are flowing off the bridge onto Elm like water through a Funnel. This part is working swimmingly.

But there's a serious problem causing a lot of backup on that first block of Elm. A few drivers pull up to N. 3rd, and they just sit there! Apparently incapable of applying gas to their motors.

I observed two drivers at different times pull up, and sit for two ... three ... four minutes. In both cases they could have turned left according to the posted detour and continued on N. 3rd. Or, they could have driven east on Elm at that moment.

So, do these drivers have trouble with the concept of a detour? Are they pulling out their pocket dictionaries and looking it up?

Would you introspective types please just help Lawrence and give your car the gas for God's sake!

Are these drivers experiencing some existential crisis as they sit at n. 3rd and Elm? Does the thought of being in a North Lawrence neighborhood require a little mental adaptation? Anybody got any ideas about what's going through their minds at that point in their lives?

/gnome