Burlington County Freeholder Deputy Director Joe Howarth recognized the ongoing work of county engineer Joe Brickley and his team dedicated to improving pothole and road conditions throughout the county as part of the board of chosen freeholder’s three point countywide emergency pothole mitigation plan.
“With the severe winter having taken a devastating toll on roads throughout the area, county engineer Joe Brickley and his team have worked tirelessly to tackle this enormous undertaking” Howarth said. “While the work is not over, their efforts have already gone a long way in effectively improving road conditions throughout the county.”
As the first point of the pothole mitigation plan, Brickley was tasked with leading a team to oversee and implement an aggressive countywide pothole repair effort. This team has worked to identify significant problem areas and manage repair operations to ensure that road conditions are improved as promptly as is possible.
One of the team’s objectives was to improve and streamline the system for reporting potholes and damaged road conditions. To this end a Burlington County pothole hotline has been established and can be reached at (609) 265–5021. As part of his update to the freeholders, Brickley reported that this hotline has been successful in helping to better identify, prioritize and promptly address problem areas.
Brickley reported to the freeholder board that as of March 24, county road crews have repaired more than 1,200 potholes.
For the second point of the mitigation plan, the board of chosen freeholders authorized a shared services agreement with the Burlington County Bridge Commission allowing for the utilization of their emergency repair contractor, AP Construction. AP Construction has been responsible for the milling and paving of areas in which the damage was more significant and extended beyond the capability for patching, instead requiring sub base repairs.
Finally, in an effort to address the widespread pothole issues and to prevent further degradation of existing potholes, the board of chosen freeholders approved an additional shared services program, which offered free pothole mitigation materials, known as “cold patch”, to municipalities willing to assist with the filling of potholes on county roads.
Brickley reported that with the help of these shared services 121,000 square feet, or approximately three acres, of roads throughout the county have already been repaired.
“While we at the county will continue to aggressively address and improve road conditions, we have found that an ‘all hands on deck’ approach in collaboration with our municipalities and the bridge commission has been effective in best serving our residents and repairing these issues as quickly as possible,” Howarth said.
Burlington County maintains 508 miles of centerline roads. Since December, road crews have used approximately 170 tons of cold patch and more than 240 tons of hot mixed asphalt.
