PennDOT launching "Pothole Blitz" as a stretch of snow-less weather sticks around
Potholes continue to plague drivers in the Pittsburgh area, leaving them frustrated and road crews scrambling to fix and fill as many of them as they can.
PennDOT is well aware of the problem and now they're transitioning from snow removal to pothole repair work in what they've dubbed a "Pothole Blitz."
Whether it's side streets or highways, drivers have been forced to dodge the hazards that can ultimately lead to costly repairs and sometimes unavoidable accidents.
"They're horrible, honestly, you can't escape them," said Austin McLaughlin.
It's been wetter than normal and colder than normal, which are the exact conditions necessary for car-busting, mood-altering potholes. For McLaughlin, they're hard to spot and now he's paying the cost.
"I hit a pothole and it just popped my tire and bent my rim," he explained. "[It was] bent on all sides."
Now, he loses air quickly in the tire and has to add some every two days.
He's also not alone.
"I had an incident where I hit a pothole and it bent the whole wheel on my car," added Joey Hunter.
Hunter said he reported it to PennDOT in the hopes he would be reimbursed but in the end, he said he just hopes to see more crews repairing the beaten up roadways.
"It's a pretty big problem, this was a bad winter for us," said PennDOT Assistant District Executive for Maintenance, Lori Musto. "We've had a lot of precipitation that froze, then it got warm, that warms seeps a little bit deeper into the cracks, and it expands and starts to pop."
Musto added that PennDOT is currently in the middle of a pothole blitz so crews are everywhere. The crews are out and the repairs are taking place now, but are a temporary fix until warmer weather arrives.
"Concerns come in, we map them and track them, we can't get to them if we're plowing snow, so now we're going out and going to hit them and then we track them for permanent repairs in the spring," she said.
For now, PennDOT is encouraging drivers to report any potholes they encounter and there are two ways that can be done - by calling 1-800-FIX-ROADS or you can head to this link and fill out a customer care concern.
