Expand / Collapse search
☰

Ka-chunk. Pothole season is here leaving drivers on alert

By and David Komer
Published  January 25, 2024 7:07pm EST
Michigan
FOX 2 Detroit

Pothole season has drivers in Metro Detroit on alert

If you live in Michigan, you know about potholes. Which also means you know it’s about that time for those to re-appear.

FOX 2 (WJBK) - If you live in Michigan, you know about potholes. Which also means you know it’s about that time for those to re-appear.

Many drivers FOX 2 spoke with were frustrated by what you’ll find out there on the roads and freeways.

"I done tore up about 5 cars in Michigan," said one driver. "On Joy Road, Grand River for sure. I thought we were getting a lot of money to fix it up."

Potholes are usually a problem after we’ve had a lot of snow and ice and then a big thaw.

"In weather like this we get the precipitation that falls, it sinks into cracks in the pavement, the temperature then drops below freezing, the water freezes and expands, and it creates a void under the pavement," said Craig Bryson.

Bryson is with the road commission for Oakland County. They, like many on the county level, collaborate with MDOT.

"We do all the snow plowing, salting, and pothole patching on all the state roads, all the MI and state roads in Oakland County," he said.

From Oakland County to Wayne County and beyond, pothole season is here. One video was sent in from Central and John Kronk in Detroit.

MDOT weighed in on some spots to be aware of:

  • Westbound I-696 between Lahser and roughly 275.
  •  Westbound I-96 between I-275 and Kent Lake.

Those highways are decades old and need to be rebuilt - and therefore have been patched a number of times.

The infrastructure underneath isn’t as good as it once was, so frequent patching and potholes fills with cold patches are a temporary fix.

This isn’t just a Detroit thing. AAA reports that 1 in 10 drivers sustained vehicle damage significant enough to warrant a repair after hitting a pothole in 2021.

The average price tag was close to $600 per repair. Across the nation, potholes cost drivers $26.5 billion in just one year.

"We're still trying to get some of the roads cleared up after some of the storms, subsequent snow, and the freeze/thaw after that," Bryson said. "So we've got crews out doing a wide variety of tasks including potholes."