Potholes Aplenty Making Drivers Discontent Statewide

Get your fresh potholes here.

Nature's wild temperature swings this winter have served up an early and plentiful batch of the tire-thumping, bone-rattling divets in the road.

From Swampscott's main roads to its side streets, from Paradise to Linden, potholes are arriving in numbers typically reserved for spring.

DPW Director Gino Cresta devoted crews to pothole filling two days last week. They are seeing a lot of them earlier than usual, he said.

The crews cold patch the holes, shoveling in a temporary fix that awaits warmer temperatures for longer term fixes with hot asphalt. 

The department targets potholes based on customer complaints and holes seen by crews in their daily travels.

The state Department of Transportation has a web page devoted to the off-putting openings. People can report the potholes via a phone hotline or email.

The combination of snow, ice and rain, along with temperatures both well below and well above freezing have made potholes a regular feature on roads throughout the state.

Melted water seeps into cracks and freezes. The thawing and freezing, expanding and contracting, initiates asphalt crumbling and buckling.

The result? Pot holes.

Long ones, short ones, deep or shallow, they make travel bumpy and can test your car's shocks and tie-rods, and leave you wobbling from the neck up like a bobble-head.