Publisher’s note: This is one of a series of blurbs about how the lack of winter is impacting businesses in the Lake Tahoe Basin. If you have an idea, please email it to info@LakeTahoeNews.net.

Lack of snow means South Lake Tahoe officials are able to repair roads.

“Our crews do crack sealing and minor patching of the roads, as well as sign maintenance and sweeping and cleaning of the drainage system,” Jim Marino, the city’s capital improvement program manager, told Lake Tahoe News. “We concentrate the crack filling on roads that have been paved within the last 10 years in order for us to extend useful life. Any cracks over 3-inches wide need to be dealt with by other methods.”

A cold patch is used this time of year. It’s a temporary fix using an oil blend. In the summer a more permanent hot mix method will be used.

“This season we are seeing many potholes and cracks getting larger due to the freeze thaw that we have been having,” Marino said.

The city to date has used about 8,000 pounds of cold patch, which can repair about 320 potholes that are 2-square-feet and 2-inches deep. To fill the approximately 37,000 lineal feet of cracks, 6,000 pounds – or 645 gallons – of crack seal have been used.

“As of right now we are a bit ahead of the normal winter street maintenance compared to heavier snow years, mainly because we are not tied up removing snow. We have utilized the dry spell to begin re-striping roadways and concentrating on sediment pick up. We don’t typically get these long dry spells to do the striping, so that is where we think we are ahead of the game at this stage,” Marino said.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report