Waldo resident Frank Sereno files dozens of 311 complaints with the city each month — most of them about potholes and other road damage in and around his neighborhood.

Back in May, he submitted a request for crack sealing on a road that he says badly needs it and called a “failed” stretch of 89th Street between Holmes and Wornall roads.

The three-quarter-mile stretch features a spiderweb of cracks, crumbling concrete and sections cut away and replaced by utility companies. In his complaint, he called the segment a “hazard to all motorists.”

It wasn’t until six months later, on Monday, Nov. 27, that the city responded to Sereno’s request. City staff’s note, which he shared with The Star, read, “The cracksealing (sic) machines are down. We are unable to address this location. A new request may be submitted in the future.”

The request was then marked “resolved,” with no fixes completed on the road.

Four of six machines down

Kansas City’s Public Works Department owns six crack-sealing machines, city spokesperson Sherae Honeycutt said. Four of them are currently out of service.

“A request has been submitted for another crack sealing machine and crew to complete the requested repairs, and the case has been added to their queue,” she said, adding that each machine is assigned to a specific area of the city but can be shared or transferred between districts if another breaks down.

“(Crack sealing) requests may be delayed, but we are working to get the equipment repaired.”

Honeycutt said on Dec. 5 that the machine assigned to Sereno’s district broke down while addressing his request “within the last two weeks.” There was, however, no evidence that recent work had been done when The Star visited the street on Nov. 30.

On Dec. 6, Honeycutt said she did not have “the slightest indication (that) any street crack sealing occurred on 89th Street in the last two weeks” and was basing her previous statement on what she was told by the public works department.

The next day, Sereno drove along 89th Street and found crack sealing work completed between Holmes and Walnut roads.

“It’s a Christmas miracle,” he said. “I can’t believe the city actually came and did any work. We’ll see if they return to complete the 89th Street sealing from Walnut to Wornall.”

Honeycutt acknowledged that the city had done crack sealing work on Sereno’s request in the week after speaking with The Star.

“In the case of this resident, we were out this week working on repairs,” she said on Dec. 8.

‘It shouldn’t be like this’

Sereno said city manager Brian Platt emailed him personally about getting the damaged section of 89th Street on the Public Works Department’s resurfacing list for next year.

While he was pleased with this response, Sereno still plans to advocate for repairs to the damaged road and better handling of 311 requests in the meantime.

“I’m very thankful to Brian for doing that — he didn’t have to,” Sereno said. “But that’s my point: It shouldn’t be like this. There should be no response that comes back to the citizen that says, hey, the equipment’s broken, and we’re just not going to fix it.”

While dark asphalt patches fill some of the road’s larger potholes, Sereno pointed out dozens of smaller gaps that he expected to bloom into full-sized road hazards due to freezing and thawing this winter.

“Give it one snow and all this stuff comes up,” he said, adding that he reports damaged road sections a block at a time to cover all the gaps that need filling. “I say, take your time, fix the small ones. Because if you don’t, it’s a pothole in two months.”

When to seal cracks

The city has previously stated that its policy is to fill not just the potholes that are reported through 311, but those nearby as well when crews visit with patching equipment.

Honeycutt noted that this work is typically done in the spring and fall, making December the tail end of crack sealing season until next year. That, combined with the four inoperative machines, means crack sealing requests may take longer than usual to complete.

“Timelines on repairs to the machine depend on the issue,” she said. “Some machines can be repaired easily and quickly, while others may be down for an extended period.”

Do you have more questions about road repairs or other infrastructure in Kansas City? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.