Many cities struggling to fill potholes

Clipping

Now this city and others across the nation are left with more potholes than they have seen in decades. Add the fact that asphalt is an expensive oil-based product, and the cost of those repairs is higher than ever. "It's been devastating," said City Manager Robert Betts. "We just don't know what to do." Some road departments are even delaying major construction projects because they need to spend money instead on patching potholes....Des Moines had to reduce by 20 percent the number of miles of road it planned to resurface. "We had to ramp back significantly on long-term maintenance work," he said. "We're out there patching because we don't have the money to do the overlay."..."We'll just keep doing it (repairing roads) until we run out of money," said Todd Hagan, the county engineer.