LOOK OUT! ‘POTHELL’ SEASON IN MICHIGAN
Mechanic: It’s one of the worst I’ve seen
“Any of our older roads that have not been rebuilt in the last few years are going to be seeing lots of potholes.”
Diane Cross
Spokesperson for Michigan Department of Transportation
Madero Dean can’t get a break.
Driving home from his new job in Romulus, he was faced with a decision all too familiar for Michiganders: Take on the monstrous pothole head-on or swerve to avoid it and hit the car next to you?
“I was like, ‘again?’ ” said Dean, 30, of Dearborn Heights, who has lost tires to potholes twice this week. “I felt it and I heard it. There’s literally no way to avoid them.”
It’s safe to say Dean’s Tuesday commute home is a near-daily occurrence for Michigan drivers, particularly this time of year when the snow is melting and the gnarly roads are peppered with crater-sized potholes. February marks the beginning of pothole season for drivers, who are at the mercy of Mother Nature and overworked road crews.
Fortunately, Dean was able to call roadside assistance and get his tires replaced the next day for about $800. As extensive as pothole damage gets, from bent rims to misalignment, Dean is among the unlucky.
Lately, at least one car a day is brought on a tow truck to Anthony “Mr. Pothole” Tuscano’s auto shop in Dearborn Heights because of pothole damage, he said. Lines have been out the door, he adds, with a devilish smile on his face.
“I’ve been in this business for about 30 years here, I’ve owned shops all over Detroit and this is probably one of the worst years we’ve seen,” said Tuscano, owner of Dearborn
Total Automotive Plus, which offers financing programs. “Obviously, I’m not complaining — I’m a business owner.”
Mild winter temperatures fuel the freezethaw cycle that creates dreaded potholes to roads, which are already weak because of age. When snow melts, the water seeps underneath the pavement and, then when temperatures drop, it expands as it freezes, causing cracks in roadways. Then once the ice melts again, it creates a gap under the surface that is then crushed by heavy vehicles driving over them.
“Any of our older roads that have not been rebuilt in the last few years are going to be seeing lots of potholes,” said Diane Cross, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Transportation. “Any road that has a crack in it has the potential to have a pothole in it. The reality is water is the enemy and once water gets in the road and our temperatures drop, that’s what gives us so much trouble.”
Even a quick browse on social media will find countless posts bemoaning road conditions, complaints about money spent on car repairs and outrage at a perceived lack of action on the part of county and state officials. Facebook community groups are where residents turn to warn others of bumpy roads and particularly deep — and pricey — dips in local roads they’ve encountered.
Road repairs
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Monday that work is scheduled to resume on two Rebuild Michigan projects involving 30 miles of Interstate 69 in Calhoun, Clinton and Eaton counties, totaling more than $283 million and supporting an estimated 3,594 jobs, according to the governor’s office. The project is part of Whitmer’s $3.5 billion Rebuilding Michigan program to rebuild state highways and bridges that carry the most traffic.
“We are keeping our foot on the gas as we move forward with my Rebuilding Michigan initiative to fix the damn roads with the right mix and material, so commuters have a smooth, reliable ride for decades to come,” Whitmer said in the announcement. “This construction season, we will keep building on the great progress we have made to fix I-69 and work to pass the biggest infrastructure budget in Michigan history.”
Michigan has repaired, rebuilt or replaced over 13,000 lane miles of road and over 900 bridges since 2019 when Whitmer took office, according to the governor’s office.
The Macomb County roads maintenance department has been inundated with calls for service requests for road patching, said Leo Ciavatta, maintenance superintendent for the county. The department gets up to 6,000 requests annually, the majority for pothole repair and flooding.
“Our mission right now is to try to fill the biggest holes so people don’t do damage to their vehicles,” Ciavatta said, adding that recent
temperature shifts have made road repairs a losing battle, even with an estimated 50 crew members deployed daily to handle potholes and extended hours.
Crews use cold patch to fill potholes, a porous gravel-tar mixture, however the material gets saturated with rainwater and when temperatures dip in the night, it freezes and hardens and gets blown out of the hole, Ciavatta said. This means some potholes have been
filled up to four times because the material does not get the opportunity to settle because of the freeze-thaw cycle.
“I understand motorists are frustrated that they call in, we are aware of the locations that need patching,” Ciavatta said. “At this point, to be quite honest, we’re playing catch-up. We’re going to be out there every day.”
In Oakland County, about 300 requests for pothole repairs were received on Tuesday by
the Road Commission for Oakland County, the commission’s spokesperson said, adding that shifts have been extended and crews are out all over the county.
“Every year, we have what we call the February Thaw, where it warms up in February,” said Craig Bryson, senior communications manager for RCOC. “Some years are worse than others, and this is a pretty bad year, but every year we see a jump in pothole concerns.”
This week, Wayne County expanded its crew workload to 10-hour days and six-day weeks to address potholes as part of its annual effort to address seasonal road repairs.
“We know that potholes are a recurring issue every year. That is why federal and state dollars to invest in infrastructure is so important,” said Wayne County Chief Executive Warren Evans in the announcement Monday. “My administration continues to collaborate with our state and federal partners to find a longterm solution to funding this critical infrastructure and to ensure that Wayne County receives more dollars to invest in our roads.”
Until temperatures rise and the “damn” roads are somewhat better, drivers are encouraged to, above all, drive with caution and dedicate their undivided attention to the road.
For more information on tackling the roads during pothole season and to report spotted potholes in Wayne, Macomb and Oakland counties, go to their maintenance websites. Potholes can also be reported to MDOT online or by calling 888-296-4546.