Helpful information about trash, potholes and infrastructure--including water main breaks
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Help us—help you with trash and potholes
Trash
Trash cans are never allowed on the street and are only allowed at the curb for one collection day each week—after 6 p.m. the night prior to collection and removed by 12 p.m. the day following collection. Leaving trash containers on the curb any longer is in violation of Mankato’s city code and makes it difficult for snow and ice removal operators to do a thorough job. A trash can left on the curb too long may be removed and need to be reclaimed to reinstate garbage removal service.
Mankato’s city code benefits visual appearance in neighborhoods to help maintain quality of life within the community.
If there’s a special circumstance preventing removal within the allotted time period of one day, contact the Mankato city offices at 507-387-8630.
Potholes
Report potholes—it’s easy and there are several options:
Call 507-345-0600 - street maintenance request line, a place to leave information on needed street repairs 24/7
Mankato's online customer service reporting
Email public works staff
Facebook
With several freeze-thaw cycles this year, it's been particularly challenging with potholes. Many are under the impression that a road system could be designed at a reasonable price that wouldn't pothole; however, until we change the laws of physics our roads will continue to break up when it freezes and thaws. The rains we had this winter made matters worse.
The city owns a patching machine and has been using it for the past several weeks on a regular basis. With the moisture we've experienced, it's much like trying to cover a wet wound with an adhesive bandage. During the winter months, a special patching mix is used until a more permanent solution is applied once warm weather stabilizes. Extreme weather also creates water main breaks and these also affect pothole conditions.
“Over the past two years the city has focused their preventative street maintenance on block patching, crack sealing and seal coating. These methods increase the streets longevity and mitigate potholes since they reduce water intrusion into the pavement’s base structure,” said Public Works Director Mark Knoff.
It's difficult for us to ascertain the condition of every street in the city, so it's helpful when people contact staff to report street conditions of particular concern. We mobilize staff to take of problem areas in a timely manner.
Infrastructure and water main breaks
Mankato is experiencing an average amount of water main breaks in comparison to previous years. Specific numbers of water main breaks from January through March:
• 2010--20
• 2009--20
• 2008--20
• 2007--26
• 2006--17
• 2005--25
Generally, weather related water main breaks are also affected by thaw-freeze conditions. Stay well-informed and subscribe to city news, use Facebook or Twitter to receive information about water main breaks and other city service messages.
“Maintenance on concrete streets is more difficult to perform and costs more than similar maintenance activities on a bituminous street,” said City Engineer Jeff Johnson. “Although less than 15 percent of Mankato’s streets are concrete, they are the streets with the highest traffic—Riverfront Drive, Warren Street, Madison Avenue, Broad, 4th and 5th streets, to name a few. Concrete streets do have a longer lifespan until the first maintenance activity needs to occur. However, there’s added expense and challenges when performing these street repairs due to the inherent properties, time and the specialized skills that’s required to work with concrete."
Rain, during the course of the winter, causes rapid deterioration. Warren, Mulberry, Broad are all scheduled for major structural overlays this year. The city continues to reconstruct about $6 million/year of older, low-volume residential roads in addition to our high volume roads. We continually monitor city water mains and infrastructure. Information gathered is used to develop our city street reconstruction plan, which includes utility replacement. Within the analysis of conditions, we do include the number of water main breaks on street sections and in some cases this advances a street improvement or replacement project.
“Water main breaks are only one small component in determining when a street is reconstructed,” said Mark Knoff, Director of Public Works. “There is a fine balance between the cost of reconstruction and the cost to fix multiple breaks coupled with the inconvenience caused by the water main breaks.”
City Staff are developing an electronic mapping tool to display and communicate water main breaks and detours since water main breaks often create disruption in water use and cause traffic re-routes in their respective areas. Construction projects will also be included on this map.
For more information contact Mankato's public works staff at 507-387-8649.