Road maintenance crews face an unenviable job this weekend – patching potholes in wet weather.
Nearly 2.5 inches of rain fell Thursday and Friday in the Chattanooga and the North Georgia areas, and snow was forecast into the evening and early this morning.
The mix of wet and cold makes road repairs a struggle, said Jennifer Flynn, Tennessee Department of Transportation spokeswoman.
“The constant battle for us is to keep the roadway smooth,” she said.
Several dozen potholes that opened up during the overnight rain Friday caused flat tires and traffic delays during morning rush hour on Interstate 24, Ms. Flynn said.
The potholes, most of them pre-existing, stretched along 1.4 miles of the westbound interstate between the Fourth Avenue exit and the Rossville Boulevard exit. For several hours, traffic was cut down to one lane on the interstate.
The emergency patching of the potholes required 13 tons of cold asphalt fill mix, according to highway officials.
During winter months, TDOT maintenance crews use what’s called a “cold mix” as a temporary fill on potholes, Ms. Flynn said. The fill can “pop” out or erode during wet weather – which is what happened Friday – but until temperatures rise, there isn’t another alternative for fixing damaged spots, she said.
Crews will be on standby all weekend because cold weather is expected and light snowfall could create slick conditions, Ms. Flynn said.
As of early Friday afternoon, scattered power outages hit an estimated 1,700 customers in Northwest Georgia, according to Georgia Power. The company blamed high winds for the outages.
Signal Mountain residents saw two travel delays Friday, both caused by fallen trees. The first tree fell on Signal Mountain Boulevard and was reported about 7 a.m., according to Signal Mountain Public Works. It was cleared within the hour.
A second, smaller tree fell on the same road, delaying traffic by 10 to 15 minutes early Friday afternoon, Ms. Flynn said.
National Weather Service meteorologists in Tennessee and Georgia said temperatures should remain above freezing for most of the weekend except for elevations higher than 1,000 feet, such as Lookout and Signal mountains.
Tim Troutman, a National Weather Service meteorologist based in Morristown, Tenn., said temperatures early Sunday morning are expected in the high 20s and could cause freezing for any remaining moisture. But forecasts show temperatures warming up into the 40s, he said.
Kent McMullen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Ga., said residents of North Georgia should expect occasional drizzle today with a possibility of flurries. The weather should start to warm up Sunday, with a high near 47, he said.
Staff writer Adam Crisp contributed to this story.