The city of St. Paul plans to spend millions of dollars this summer to repair roads that were damaged by the ruinous winter weather.

St. Paul Public Works says the city will use $2.55 million for repairing and patching roads and potholes on all streets that were damaged this past winter season.

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Officials say the heavier snow totals, combined with the temperature fluctuations that caused multiple freeze-thaw cycles, made winter worse than usual this year, and drivers likely noticed.

St. Paul says its crews are in the process of “route patching” the entire city, meaning they’ll review and patch all streets, then go back and skim pave areas that need more extensive work. The city says it plans to patch or skim pave all 530 miles of residential streets and more than 2,000 alleys.

Route patching will help crews be more efficient than responding to individual patching requests, St. Paul Public Works says.

“The record-setting winter last year did extensive damage to our streets,” Mayor Melvin Carter said in a statement. “Repairing our streets remains our priority. Our Public Works crews continue to do everything they can to improve the safety of our streets and help us reach our goal of patching every street in Saint Paul this year.”

“The important work done by our street maintenance team cannot be praised enough,” Sean Kershaw, the director of St. Paul Public Works, added. “It is a tough job carried out in often tougher conditions. These men and women know the unique character of what makes each street different from one another and they take great pride to take care of them and keep them safe and usable for all.”

While city crews complete this work, which may stretch into the fall, officials are asking residents and businesses to help by:

• Only reporting potholes on main (arterial) streets. The city says its crews are currently focusing on residential streets and, with the route patching approach, it may take longer to get to patching complaints than past years.
• Moving vehicles. The city says it won’t be posting any temporary “no parking” signs and is asking residents to move vehicles off streets if pothole patching crews are in the area.
• Not pushing any materials or debris into streets. St. Paul says leaves, dirt and grass clippings need to be disposed of at county compost sites or, if part of the city’s garbage service, compostable yard waste bags can be collected by garbage crews.
• Keeping garbage and recycling bins off the street. Carts can be placed on the boulevard or driveway apron but not the street.
• Being patient. Crews won’t have details or timelines for residents, as conditions vary greatly across the city.

More information on the city’s pothole patching work is available online.