McLean County Times

Bloomington public works director Kevin Kothe gave a year-in-review presentation to the city council at council's Dec. 12 meeting. The slideshow and videos reviewed the streets that were resurfaced or patched in 2022, along with plans for spring of 2023.

“I know that we're an hour into the meeting, but this is ten or 15 minutes that hopefully the council finds very enjoyable, the community appreciates and it's something that as staff we are very proud of," city manager Tim Gleason said. "We understand we're talking about roads and sidewalks, or asphalt and concrete that the city council and staff are under intense scrutiny to keep up and possibly advance ... our yearly totals of repair work that we do. And this is an opportunity that we've done - have taken at the end of every construction season since 2018, trying to increase that awareness of what actually is being accomplished. Kevin Kothe, the public works director, he does a great job, but this is also an opportunity to recognize the prime contractors, the outside subcontractors, the local union halls, our public works staff, obviously, and all the different city departments that have a hand in exactly what you're about to see.”

The videos showed the process of road replacement, from milling of the old street, recycling the materials, laying the asphalt, rolling it out, and inspecting and painting the new roads. Kothe also talked about some side projects like manhole covers, curb replacements, and water main replacements that were done before the roads were repaved.

Council members praised the department for all its hard work and the presentation. The department estimated there was somewhere around 15 miles of resurfacing throughout the year. There were also comments about sinkholes and potholes in the city, and public works assured council that they were making progress on addressing those.