METAIRIE– We all know that our lovely little city is plagued by the curse of the potholes, but ever wonder why there seem to be so many on the streets and not on the ever-expanding bike paths?

We did some digging and found at that the roads and paths are all made of the same material. The roads and bike paths are made of either asphalt, concrete, or a combination of both.

“Most of the bike lanes that we’ve installed are on streets that we’ve resurfaced,” explained Mike Jernigan, director of public works for the city of New Orleans.

The reason behind those pesky, car damaging potholes is the foundation and what’s going on below the surface. Our city is 299 years old, after all, so there’s bound to be some stuff going on down below that we don’t know about.

“Gas lines, water lines etc, if one of those has a malfunction, then it causes a crack in the surface of the road, which ultimately leads to potholes,” said Jernigan.

So, no, the bike paths do not get special attention. However, traffic and weight of vehicles do have a role in the condition of the street.