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JAMESTOWN – The City of Jamestown is testing out a new product to help with road upkeep, hoping for a solution to one of the oldest problems: potholes.
It’s a never-ending battle not just locally, but across the nation, as crews spend most of the spring patching potholes.
In a push to address community concerns, councilman at-large Randy Daversa is networking with a nationwide company to roll out a new product to address problem spots.
“I’ve come up with a company from the American Road Patch that they said they had a material, if applied properly, would hold for a very long time. And we had some further discussions and they wanted to give a demonstration, and today we did that, and we’re very optimistic that this could be a real good solution for problem spots,” explains Daversa.
Daversa, a former State DOT supervisor, said the material adhered to the applied surface when heated and showed no signs of movement when plowed in locations already using the material.
The material, he goes on to say, is moderately priced at $400 dollars a roll. Ideally, Daversa would like to begin a pilot program before winter.
“The idea behind this is, it’s a patch that goes over potholes and can help any of those troublesome areas where water’s getting in. This seals around the holes so that you can prevent further damage and have a road last longer,” says Nate Katz, National Sales Manager with Saint-Gobain ADFORS.
Katz says the roll is placed over a hot or cold patch after being heated. The impact and heat from vehicles driving over the patch would then further adhere the roll to the road.
“For municipalities, when you start looking at the cost of labor and the cost of recurring repairs on a pothole, this is certainly a project that will prevent it from further damage or having to revisit some of those troublesome potholes,” assures Katz.
As for when the city might invest in a product like this, Jamestown DPW Director Jeffery Lehman explains time will tell.
“We put it down today, and now we’ll watch it for the next few months, up to a year to see if it holds and see if it’s a product we wanna invest in in the future,” says Lehman.
In the end, the Director says the product must hold up and be cost effective to be an option for the city.
In addition to Jamestown, the company is also hosting demonstrations with other cities across Western New York to showcase their new product.
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