Minneapolis smoothes over miles of bumpy roads

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I'm guessing that maybe 30 percent of my daily commute is over Minneapolis streets that have been resurfaced over the last several months. I've been quick to kvetch about how potholes have taken their toll on my aging car's suspension system and my nerves. So it's only appropriate for me to now acknowledge that city officials have apparently been listening to the collective gripes of city drivers.

Yesterday, city officials announced that the public works department has just finished resurfacing more than 45 miles of streets and alleys. Here are the city's numbers:

0.82 miles of roadway reconstructed

25.83 miles of roadway resurfaced

18.7 miles of roadways and alleys seal coated

= 45.35 miles of new driving surfaces

That also means there are 45.35 fewer miles of streets and alleys that the city will have to patch up next spring and summer. That should give them more time to catch up with the other miles of streets that will be scarred by the elements this winter.

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