Pothole season starts...but does it ever end? Weather variances putting roads under more stress

MILFORD, Mass. — Steve Fountain remembers this about pothole season: it used to begin and end pretty much within a specific timeframe. He’s not seeing that anymore.

“The pothole season’s longer now,” said the Milford resident. “Used to be able to count on certain weather during certain times of the year and now it’s changed around here. And I think it’s because temperatures get real warm, they get cold, they fluctuate more than they used to.”

Fountain is correct. Take this January. The first two weeks of the month daytime temperatures generally stayed in the 40s, with only five nights dipping below freezing. And then came heavy snow, followed by heavy rain, which was followed by more heavy rain and then the coldest temperatures of the winter. And the pattern is set to flip back to relative warmth as the month comes to a close.

Those kinds of temperature and precipitation swings undermine asphalt in the same way it used to happen when winter thawed into spring. Temperature variance causes contraction and expansion on road surfaces, turning small cracks into big ones. Melting snow or rain can then slide under the asphalt to the foundation of sand below, further increasing instability.

Thus, drivers are dodging potholes earlier and more often — and repair crews are having more trouble keeping up.

And while the problem is most acute in the Northeast, which accounts for about a third of all pothole damage to vehicles in the country, every part of the U.S. is dealing with roads in poor condition. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act allocated $274 billion to fix America’s crumbling roads — $4.2 billion is set aside for Massachusetts, which, according to autoinsurance.com, has about 1,200 miles of roads needing repair.

And the cost of pothole damage can run into the thousands — if, for example, wheels and axles are involved. The average cost in Massachusetts, autoinsurance.com reports, is about $620.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW

©2024 Cox Media Group