‘Pothole season’ begins after snow melts

BOWLING GREEN, Ky.- City and state crews are working to fix the potholes left behind by the winter storm that hit South Central Kentucky. 

Wes Watt, Public Information Officer for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said as we enter into spring, it’s what they call ‘pothole fixing season’ for them. He said the greater the winter weather, the greater pothole problem there is. 

One of the biggest causes of potholes is when ice gets into the cracks and into smaller potholes and freezes. The pavement then expands, ultimately causing the pothole to become bigger. 

Watt and the city’s Public Works Director Greg Meredith say to proceed with caution when you see potholes, or crews working to fix them. 

“We need drivers to slow down, we need them to get over for the personnel and the vehicles working as far as they can. And they need to be safe about doing it too, we don’t want them jerking over to the other lane or anything like that and create a more dangerous situation there,” said Watt.

“People try to dodge potholes and that can lead to more crashes and more accidents. It’s just for the pavement structure, you want to make sure that it’s repaired. And if they’re bad enough, obviously if we have sections that are really potholed, then those probably need to be resurfaced,” said Meredith. 

Both Meredith and Watt said to be patient as they fix the potholes, as they will continue to work to fix them over time.