A wintry mix is on the way Friday, but road crews took advantage of the sunshine Thursday to fill potholes.
“Whenever I drive right here, I am always going in that pothole. It's not a good feeling, not for me, not for my car,” Dominique Ferrerah, of East Hartford, said as she drove on Maple Avenue in Hartford.
Cities, like Hartford and towns, such as Bloomfield, have crews are on the road to make repairs.
“Constant freezing and thawing -- the warm weather, then the cold weather and a lot of rain and ice -- are all the ingredients necessary to make a really good pothole. We have had a good supply this year,” said John Lawlor, the director of public works in Bloomfield.
Bloomfield also has a good tool to combat the pesky potholes. They have a new machine called a hotbox, which was funded by a grant from the state.
They share the hotbox with Simsbury and use recycled road material to fill the potholes, even in cold temperatures.
“It's really just a Crockpot on wheels. It's a trailer device that has a fuel source heat that allows the mixture that we put in there to stay warm,” Lawlor said.
Local
In Hartford the road crews use a temporary cold mix until the warmer months.
“We have some major, major holes in the South End. The South West side of the city,” Vernon Matthews, the assistant superintendent for Hartford Public Works, said.
Within the last three years Hartford officials said the city has repaired 800 to 1,500 potholes and mega holes.
While drivers can't fill the potholes themselves, officials said people can do their part to save their cars and wallets.
“Pothole season can really be like Christmas season for repair shops because some of the more serious damage can cost thousands of dollars,” Amy Parmenter, the manager of public and government affairs at AAA, said.
Officials from AAA said Americans spend around $3 billion a year on pothole damage.
It’s a hole in our checkbooks that can be prevented.
“How can you avoid the pothole? Well, first off, you can actually look out for it. A lot of times people just aren't paying attention, they are distracted and then slam -- they go right into the pothole,” Parmenter said.
With more wintry weather on the way, safety is a must.
“If it is slippery and icy conditions, be courteous to us too because we are just trying to make the roads safe for you guys,” Mike Castonguay, the public works crew chief in Bloomfield, said.
