Weekend Poll: Is There An Excuse For the Pothole Problem In Cheyenne?

As part of his ''Mayor's Minute" news release on Friday, Cheyenne Mayor Patrick Collins responded to a question about potholes by saying the city had "no excuses'' for the number of potholes on city streets.

The mayor wrote the following:

No excuses, as a city we just have not been doing the basic maintenance required to keep our roads in good shape. Our Street and Alley crews are working so hard to patch the potholes, but they do not control the required maintenance of crack filling, sealing the roads, and milling and overlays. Street and Alley has ordered a second patch truck, (it should be here any day) and they can put an additional seven pickup trucks on the street with a bagged patch mix that we have found works well.

You can help us by reporting potholes by filling out our pothole form at www.cheyennecity.org/ReportaConcern. Currently, we invest $4.5 million a year from the 5th penny sales tax to roads. It is just not enough to stabilize our 350 miles of roadways. You will see a $14 million dollar item on the next 6th penny sales tax to supplement our maintenance efforts to do the crack filling, sealing, and overlays to get the roads back in good shape. Our city staff tells me we need to make this kind of effort over the next decade to reach every street in Cheyenne and make the difference you are talking about.

But some people in the past have argued that potholes are simply an issue that Cheyenne will have to live with, because of its climate.

Former Mayor Marian Orr, looking back on her term in office, said she underestimated how difficult the problem was to deal with as a candidate, but learned as mayor that the issue is a tough one.

Or maybe you think potholes are overblown and that the city has bigger to deal with. Take our poll and give us your opinion