AKRON, Ohio — From a deep freeze to spring-like temperatures and rain, the conditions in Northeast Ohio recently have been ideal for a less-than-ideal tradition: pothole season.
“I’m sitting here swerving like this and I’m like, ‘I hope I don’t get pulled over for a DUI.’ I’m not drinking, I’m swerving for potholes,” said Taj Talkington, mimicking the jerk of a steering wheel.
Talkington knows firsthand the damage a pothole can inflict.
“A lot of cracked rims that we have to weld over and over and over. I’m a victim myself, of course,” he said. “When my wife drives my car, she breaks all my rims due to the potholes, especially over on East Exchange and Vernon Odom where they’re the worst at.”
The mechanic at Akron-based Copley Tire and Oil said it’s common to see a surge in customers with broken rims, popped tires or worse when pothole season ramps up.
“Sometimes I replace steering knuckles and wheel bearings, the whole ordeal, the whole nine yards,” Talkington said.
The City of Akron’s Highway Maintenance Division repairs potholes in the city year-round, but crews expect the work to increase this time of year when temperatures fluctuate.
“We had a hard freeze, and then it starts to thaw, and then the rain comes, and it just kind of blows everything apart. So it was kind of the perfect storm for the potholes to start opening back up,” said Anthony Dolly, the superintendent of highway maintenance.
He explained when snow and ice removal isn’t necessary, the same crews that would be operating plows and salt trucks pivot to pothole repair.
“We do have crews working 16 hours a day right now and on the weekends filling those potholes, so we’re getting to them pretty quickly,” he said.
Residents and passersby who spot potholes are encouraged to report them by calling 311 within city limits or online at AkronOhio.gov/311. This season, the city also launched a new MyAkron311 mobile phone app.
“It comes through the highway department, the supervisor picks it up and they dispatch it to the crews,” said Dolly.
He explained the teams are typically able to respond to requests within a day or two, depending on the volume. Potholes that pose bigger risks to vehicles and safety are given a higher priority.
“An emergency pothole would be a tire buster, something that may cause damage to a vehicle, something that might shift you into another lane while you’re driving, that type of thing,” Dolly said.
He asks drivers to have patience with road crews making repairs and give them plenty of space.
The city also has contractors monitoring the overall condition of roads to evaluate if and when they need complete resurfacing.
