Jessica Dorney, who works in the Public Works Department, got a call yesterday reporting a pothole.

Yes, the department is still getting reports of potholes, but nothing like last winter, when Mayor Scott Avedisian even created a hotline for pothole complaints.

Dorney now gets one or two calls a week on potholes. That’s not surprising, as not only have potholes been filled but entire roads have been resurfaced. So far, according to Department of Public Works records, portions or the complete surface of 26 roads have been resurfaced. Another 19 are “programmed” to be resurfaced this season. But that’s not all. Another 42 roads are on the “pending” National Grid work list.

Yet, for all the roadwork being done, there’s no way the city will deplete the $2,373,000 budgeted by the time the snow flies. And it would appear the city won’t be capable of spending all the money by the time the fiscal year comes to a close June 30, 2016.

DPW Director David Picozzi isn’t surprised. While even more streets could use resurfacing, there’s only so much crews can do during the construction season. That’s part of it. Also contributing to a large measure is that the city has been able to stretch its roadwork dollars by teaming up with National Grid.

The marriage makes perfect sense. National Grid is on a program of upgrading natural gas lines throughout the city. The work involves digging a three- or four-foot trench down one lane of a road, which then is patched.

Initially, Picozzi argued the utility company should repave the entire road to eliminate the patch. He was particularly troubled by the prospect that reasonably good roads, or ones recently resurfaced by the city, would get dug up.

The city, anxious to repair roads needing the work, and National Grid, with its plan to replace gas lines, compared notes and reached an agreement where they are sharing the cost of repaving.

According to city budget analyst Lynne Proger, of the $190,000 spent as of yesterday for roadwork, $20,000 has been reimbursed by National Grid. Proger said not to look at the amount paid as a reflection of the work that has been done or is in the process of being done.

“It’s kind of a moving target,” she said, explaining that it often takes several weeks for Cardi Construction, which holds the repaving contract, to invoice the city. She said for the current cycle, $762,000 is encumbered for roadwork.

Turning back the clock to early this spring, when the mayor and the City Council were in the process of drafting the budget, the condition of city roads commanded the headlines. Claims by the dozens were being submitted for blown tires and damaged vehicles. Taxpayers were outraged, and council members vowed to address the problem by boosting the budget for road repairs. The mayor budgeted $1 million for roads, which the council increased to $2,373,000.

One of the most vocal advocates of increasing the budget, Ward 5 Councilman Ed Ladouceur, wants to ensure funds not spent on roadwork in the current fiscal year “roll over” to the next year. That’s not the budget practice. Usually, unspent amounts within a budget line item are transferred within a department to cover over-expenditures in other line items, or the funds revert to the general fund.

Carryover funds may be just what Picozzi needs. Of all the streets the director is looking to upgrade, the one that promises to be the most challenging in terms of cost is four-lane Jefferson Boulevard.

Roadways, or portions thereof, completed thus far this season are Fairfax Drive, Patriot Court, Ralston Street, Calvert Court, Kiwanee Road, Falcon Avenue, Greenfield Avenue, Taft Avenue, Groveland Avenue, Peter Street, Church Avenue, Old Homestead Avenue, Winslow Avenue, Packard Avenue, Crest Avenue, Bownlee Boulevard, Long Street, Pinnery Avenue, Gilbert Street, Limestone Road, Wells Avenue, Deborah Road, Mullen Road, Essez Road, Pequot Avenue and Wilson Avenue.

Programmed for the season are George Street, Spring Garden Street, Inman Avenue, Bayside Avenue, Ingersoll Avenue, Hagertown Road, Griffen Drive, Dexterdale Drive, Coveside Court, Hill Top Drive, Lucas Road, Opal Court, Jonquil Drive, Topaz Drive, Weeden Drive, Ebony Drive, Tidewater Drive and Greene Street.

SHARING THE COST: National Grid, which is in the process of upgrading natural gas lines, is sharing the cost of fully repaving roads after their work is completed. Here, utility crews work on Warwick Neck Avenue, which is programmed to be repaved next year. (Warwick Beacon photo)