A deep thaw followed by heavy rainfall this year has made for a longer and more labor-intensive pothole season. The Kosciusko County Highway Department is on schedule now for patching and paving, according to Assistant Superintendent Steve Moriarty, but it wasn’t easy – the thaw and rain held them back by about three weeks, and crews are still out now. “Spring was very rough on us, this is probably one of the toughest seasons in 13 years,” he said. “The deep thaw is what killed us – we started earlier this year and went later than usual.” The department went over every road at least once and now is going back out for call-ins. Some holes had to be refilled later or new ones appeared in the same roads, he said, and “there are 73 spots where we literally had to remove the road, put in limestone and patch it up again.” He added drivers should be cautious when passing road crews. “If you see guys out there patching, slow down,” he said. It’s the same story in many counties throughout Indiana, according to the Associated Press. Heavy rains this summer have not only hampered efforts by some cities and counties to work on street paving projects, it's put road crews behind on patching thousands of potholes that erupted in late winter and early spring. "We had a lot more repair work this spring than normal," the AP quotes Blackford County Highway Superintendent Ken Penrod as telling The Star Press. In Delaware County, city and county officials just recently released their paving plans for 2015. Other counties say they are facing similar problems because crews were delayed on paving projects. "They're still patching potholes from the winter," Henry County highway engineer Joe Copeland said. Delaware County resident Jeff Wagner said he believes one county road he's traveled is in such bad shape it’s undriveable and that he's expressed those concerns to county highway officials. "I told them that someone will get killed," he said in the AP’s reporting. Delaware County Councilman Mike Jones recently urged that millions of dollars be applied toward road paving, saying county roads are "deplorable." Some residents frustrated with the condition of roads say the city or county should take money from other pools of funding, such as traffic roundabout construction, to pay for paving. But that is not allowed. "If the money that is being used is federal money under the highway safety improvement project funding, then no, they cannot use that money elsewhere," said Patrick Conner, a professional engineer and research manager for the Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program at Purdue University. Copeland said every county around the state faces the same reality. "Every county is limited in funds," Copeland said. "When you're out of money, you're out of money."
