As roads start to thaw, drivers told to watch for potholes

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — There’s little snow in the immediate forecast but there’s plenty of it on the roads.

Three thousand miles of city streets are never plowed by the Indianapolis Department of Public Works, according to director Dan Parker. Parker said this most recent snow storm is a once-in-a-decade event.

Parker says the city has 107 trucks and close to 8,000 miles of roads to clear with a focus on main roads and what Parker calls connecting roads.

The city doesn’t have the money or the equipment to clear every residential road along with hundreds of miles of city streets. And now, the overtime budget for plowing snow has been exhausted for the year, Parker said.

The city hired two private contractors to pick up the slack for DPW. On Wednesday, those contractors had 24 hours to get their assigned area completed.

Once the snow thaws and the streets clear of the snow, the city is warning drivers to be on the lookout for potholes.