29 Feb 08 Two new road patch trucks on way

Vehicles to begin helping fill potholes in two to three weeks

Each truck will cost the city $105,000. Funds for the new units were allocated in the 2007 budget, Bevens said.

Later this year, another patch machine will be purchased, this one from the 2008 budget.

At present, Bevens said, the city has five patch units that are operable. By the end of the year, he said, there will be six.

Some outdated vehicles and equipment presently on hand will be traded in for the new machines, bringing the number of vehicles to six by year’s end, Bevens said.

Of the five machines currently in use, the city has four patch trucks and one “patch unit,” which Bevens described as a high-tech injection system pulled behind a pickup truck on a trailer.

City street crews have been busy patching potholes as they have occurred this winter but have had difficulty keeping up because of the large number of snowfalls and the freezing and thawing that followed.

“I remember some really bad potholes in the past,” Bevens said. “But this year, we are at a critical point.”

City Councilman Jeff Preisner has proposed shifting $2.6 million the city has designated for other projects this year to repairing Topeka’s streets. The council will consider the proposal Tuesday.

Bevens said the acquisition of new patch units already has been included in 2007 and 2008 budgets and isn’t contingent on council action to shift additional money into street repair.