Winter weather causes ongoing hazards on the roadways
Bowling Green, KY.- It’s that time of year, and a pesky hazard is back on our South Central Kentucky roads, creating a danger for drivers and wreaking potential havoc on your vehicle.
Kentucky Transportation Department District 3, Public Information Officer, Wes Watt, says “as we are coming off a week-long weather event, where we had snow and ice on the road, and also really cold temperatures, and then followed off with several inches of heavy rain. That’s a bad combination for our roadway services. “He says we are entering pothole patching season.
This time of year, an increase in potholes presents a danger for drivers. Both Bowling Green Public Works and the Kentucky Transportation Department send crews out daily for repairs.
Ryan Johnson, manager at Bowling Green Public Works Operations Division, says “When water seeps down in the hole, or the crack, or whatever it may be, it freezes and thaws, and tends to expand and contract. And then when you get the weight of a vehicle to drive over it, it tends to crumble out, and we have to go repair the hole.”
As vehicles continue to drive over unstable areas, the road only gets worse, and if and when the ground freezes again, the ground will expand, potentially blowing out the newly filled pothole.
Wes Watt says, “We may have to come back multiple times to patch the same pothole because we cannot use the more permanent fix. We have to wait until the weather warms up.”
Slowing down gives you more reaction time. Officials say the best way to avoid pothole damage is to drive carefully on wet roadways. Ryan Johnson, says “Depending on the depth and the severity of the pothole, they can have a major effect on it. Sometimes if cars hit them it could damage their car, whether it be their tire or rim that’s on the car, or even their suspension system. So, we try to get them fixed as soon as we are notified or we know about them.”
If you see a pothole, you can report it to your local public works office so they can send a crew, and repair the roadway as soon as possible.
