The City's Maintenance Division maintains and improves 342 miles of roadways, 492 cul-de-sacs, 78 parks and playgrounds and more than 50 City facilities.
Park maintenance
Park maintenance maintains parkgrounds, trails, playfields and picnic facilities. They are also responsible for snow removal on over 300 miles of sidewalks throughout the city.
Each year, Park Maintenance conducts programs to help control the number of geese and deer in the city. These control programs focus on public safety, sanitation concerns and the health of the animal population per square mile. Surveys and studies are conducted to determine the concentration of animals, and removal programs are set up based on the results.
Park Maintenance is responsible for mowing approximately 700 acres of turf throughout Bloomington. Areas include boulevards, parks, athletic fields, freeway noise wall areas and park open spaces. There are three basic levels of mowing:
High use areas are mowed every 5 - 10 days.
Less used areas are mowed once a month and some areas once or twice a year.
Weed control is performed as needed to maintain the particular use of an area.
There are 55 playground apparatus units throughout the city parks system and at school sites. These playgrounds are inspected and repaired on a regular basis to help insure the safety of the many children that use them. Trained "Playground Safety Inspectors," certified by the National Playground Safety Institute, perform weekly walk-through inspections including a detailed inspection of the entire apparatus. Monthly inspections are also performed and any necessary repairs or adjustments are made.
A number of years ago, Park Maintenance staff began a program to retain and reclaim sites throughout the city for improved areas of native prairie grasses and wildflowers. Fifteen areas of varying sizes have been designated as native prairie/wildflower areas and special care has been given to them. Maintenance strategies include seasonal mowing, burning or the planting of wildflower seeds. Interesting textures and a variety of colors can be seen at these locations throughout the year:
Bloomington Ferry Road and Pioneer Trail: Northeast corner.
Girard Park: South and east of 84th and France Avenue.
Nord Myr: West of Poplar Bridge Road and north of 91st Street.
Tarnhill Park: North side of 98th Street east of Rich Road.
West Bush Lake: South and west of #2 picnic shelter.
The City maintains 16 hockey rinks, two broomball rinks and 15 general skating areas at city parks. These rink sites are lighted and most have heated warming houses that are staffed. These rink areas are maintained Monday - Saturday during the December, January and February skating season. Rinks and warming houses are open depending on the weather. Specific warming house schedules can be found on the skating rinks and warming houses web page.
Bloomington City Council priorities dictate that when a plowable snow event occurs, the first priority is the cleaning of Bloomington streets and cul-de-sacs for safe vehicle use. This means there is only snow removal on rinks and no flooding on the day of a snow event.
The City has a number of hiking and biking trails at various locations. All trails are usable most of the year. Only paved trails have snow removed in the winter.
Bush Lake: 1.5 miles of walking trail with asphalt, wood chip and dirt surfacing.
Central Park (including Moir Picnic area and the Nine Mile Creek area): 4.5 miles of trail. Surfaces are asphalt, wood chip and lime rock.
Forest Glen Trail: a .9 mile long asphalt trail, connecting Marth Road with East Bush Lake Road.
Girard Lake: A one-mile wood chip trail.
Heritage Hills: A one-mile wood chip trail.
Marsh Lake: A .75-mile wood chip trail.
Normandale Lake: Two laps of two miles each, one for walking and one for biking and in-line skating.
Parker's Picnic: Over three miles of trail that are chip/dirt.
Smith Park: A newly installed asphalt trail system that runs through the entire park.
Tierney's Woods: Wood chip trails maintained by Three Rivers Park District.
Road weight limits
The City of Bloomington follows MnDOT's schedule for imposing and removing spring road weight limit restrictions.
Additional information can be found by calling MnDOT at 651-296-3000 or by visiting the MnDOT website.
The City is responsible for maintaining 342 miles of pavement (streets). Routine maintenance of the streets reduces the number of repairs required. Scheduled maintenance programs include crack sealing, sealcoating and overlay.
The goal is to patch areas that will provide a safe street network throughout the City. Any calls received are generally handled within 24 hours. Every seven years, all streets are sealed through a systematic process using the City's Pavement Management Program.
The Maintenance Division is responsible for maintaining approximately 600 miles of curb and gutter. Curbs and gutters gather water run-off from the street and carry it to the storm drainage system.
Street Maintenance keeps a list of curb problem locations including those that have been reported by residents. The most effective, long-term repair of curbs is curb replacement. Public Works hires a construction contractor to replace a specific amount of curb each year. All other curbs in need of repair are patched with asphalt by Street Maintenance crews. The City also removes trees in the right-of-way that are heaving curb or sidewalk for no direct charge to the property owner. Curb problems can be reported by calling 952-563-8760.
Bituminous or blacktop pavement by design is flexible to accommodate the freeze/thaw cycle of our climate. Subsequently, cracking will occur in relatively new pavement and continue throughout its life due to age, traffic, weather, etc. Crack "filling" is the placement of a liquid asphalt emulsion into the void, coating the newly exposed internal surface of the pavement to limit further deterioration. Crack "sealing" is the placement of a rubberized sealant in the crack that will provide a protective coating and seal out water.
This process includes grinding the old surface to make the pavement uniform, then adding a new hot-mix overlay. An overlay is a structural improvement which renews the street surface and extends the life cycle of the original pavement.
The repair of the typical "pothole" or other similar small isolated section of structural failure. It involves removal and repair of the street section.
The Pavement Management Program improves concrete curb, gutter and sidewalk, constructs handicap access ramps, repairs deteriorating asphalt and reconstructs, overlays or sealcoats existing streets. The program annually encompasses approximately 45-50 miles of streets in Bloomington. The Maintenance Division performs routine patching and crack sealing operations to improve and extend the life of the street system.
PMP also maintains a computerized Pavement Management System. This system includes an inventory of the entire street network as well as roadway test data for each street in the city. It allows us to select streets for repair at the most effective time. We are currently working on connecting the Pavement Management inventory to the City's Geographic Information System. This will allow us to visually overlay the information on pavement with information about other infrastructure. In practical terms, it will allow for staff to plan and carry out maintenance on pipes and manholes that lie below the surface before the pavement is reconstructed. This capability helps our staff make the best use of the City's resources in an effort to maintain our infrastructure responsibly.
The City relies on a rating system to provide a fair and systematic way to determine which streets need to be repaired. One-third of the city streets are rated each year by evaluating the defects (cracks, potholes and soft spots) in the road. This rating system allows us to determine what maintenance strategy will need to be used for the street. A database of all the street conditions is updated every three years by the Maintenance Division.
The most common cause is the freeze/thaw cycle. The ice/snow melts during the day filling cracks with water. At night the water freezes and expands, popping out the asphalt.
Even without freezing weather, water can seep into cracks on the road's surface. Combined with the vibration of traffic, it can cause the asphalt to fail. This is why there are more potholes after it rains.
Finally, potholes can be created when trucks and buses stress the roadway, causing a movement of the subsurface. Once there is a weak spot, every car that travels over it worsens the problem, and eventually a section of the material will fail.
Our goal is to respond to all potholes within 2 business days of being notified. We take care of the problem initially by installing a temporary patching material. Then we prioritize the potholes by size, number and street traffic volume to see if more extensive repairs are warranted.
Potholes and other roadway failures are repaired by Street Maintenance in order of priority.
Potholes on County Roads are fixed by Hennepin County crews. These roads include all of Old Shakopee Road as well as the parts of 24th Avenue, Portland Avenue, Nicollet Avenue, Penn Avenue, France Avenue, Normandale Blvd, and Bush Lake Road that are north of Old Shakopee Road. To report a pothole on one of these roads, you can call Hennepin County Operations Dispatch directly at 612-596-0299.
Potholes on State Highways are fixed by MnDOT. These roads include I-35W, Cedar Avenue, -I494 and TH 169. MnDOT has a web page to report potholes.
All existing asphalt pavement is removed through a full-depth milling process, pulverized to a specific gradation, reclaimed and recycled with the existing aggregate base. Then a new full-depth hot-mix asphalt pavement is installed. It may also involve soil corrections and removal of aggregate base.
Sealcoating is the process where an asphalt emulsion is applied to the surface of a road, followed by the placement of small graded aggregate. This coating is wear-resistant and protects pavements from oxidation and the effects of moisture.
Sealcoating progress map
Sidewalk maintenance
Sidewalks constructed in the right-of-way are repaired and maintained by the Street Maintenance Division. The city's sidewalks are divided into three districts. Each year, sidewalks in one of the three districts are inventoried, surveyed for repair needs and scheduled for repair. If you have a sidewalk concern, please call 952-563-8760.
Street sweeping
Cleaning city streets provides safe conditions for all modes of transportation. This includes sweeping and flushing services for over 342 miles of streets and bike lanes. Clean streets improve air standards and stormwater quality for the citizens of Bloomington.
City streets are swept twice a year in spring and fall. Spring sweeping begins in early April and takes approximately four to five weeks. Fall sweeping is complete in October. Crews work two shifts: Monday - Friday, 4 a.m. to 12 p.m. or 12 to 8 p.m.
The City alternates sweeping start and finish points each year so that no area is always first or last. Fall sweeping is NOT intended to sweep up leaves. Residents are responsible for leaf collection.
Do not rake leaves into the street. Leaves blown into the street are a major problem for storm sewer systems, as they clog grates and pipes, which contribute to back-ups and/or flooding.
Leaves also accumulate in pipes. This contributes to reduction in water flow and also gives mosquitoes breeding areas. When leaves make it to the creek, pond or river, they reduce water flow and use up oxygen, which reduces the viability of aquatic life.
Leaves in the street also are a safety problem, especially when wet. Cars can easily slide on wet leaves and fail to stop. Frozen leaves present a problem for both motorists and the City's snow removal teams.
