Pothole season breaks out across Puget Sound region
Jan 6, 2015, 6:34 AM | Updated: Jan 7, 2015, 3:18 pm
If it seems like your ride is a little rougher than usual, you’re right. The Puget Sound region is smack-dab in the middle of the dreaded pothole season.
Sunday night, a pothole five feet long and six inches deep damaged a number of cars on southbound Interstate 5 in Tacoma, reports KING 5.
A Washington State Department of Transportation incident response crew quickly raced to the scene and patched the hole.
“We send a crew as soon as we can. Sometimes we can repair on the spot, sometimes it involves closing a lane for awhile,” says Harmony Weinberg, WSDOT spokesperson.
“It can be tricky out there. Our roads are getting older so we’re always in maintenance mode,” she says.
So what exactly causes a pothole? The Seattle Department of Transportation says water can get under the pavement through cracks or from the side of the road, causing the pavement to sink and break. It’s worse in winter because the water can freeze and expand, then thaw and contract.
While miles of roadway across the state could use a complete replacement, the money just isn’t there.
It’s a big problem for many cities as well. The City of Seattle’s dedicated “Pothole Rangers” filled nearly 14,000 in 2014, according to SDOT.
The dedicated teams seek out potholes and respond to reports the public can submit via phone or online. They strive to respond within three days. Last year, the crews responded to more than 5,000 repair requests in Seattle alone, reports SDOT.
Whether on the highway or city street, it’s a constant struggle to keep up. The material used to patch potholes doesn’t stick as well to the surrounding pavement when it is cold or wet, so repairs made in the winter may not last as long as on dry, warm pavement, according to SDOT. Since crews can’t wait for dry weather, they can often find themselves making the same repairs multiple times.
