INDIANAPOLIS – If you have been driving across the Circle City recently, it might feel like potholes are opening up left and right.
These road craters are not only eyesores, but they are also costing drivers hundreds if not thousands of dollars in damage.
“They are everywhere,” said Indianapolis driver Becky Shields.
Whether you are driving along a busy city street or a quiet neighborhood road, it is hard to take a drive that is not ridden by potholes in some shape or form.
“I’m dodging and ducking the tires all the time,” laughed driver Shane Evans. “I feel like Jeff Gordon out there.”
Indianapolis drivers said they are used to potholes each winter season, but some said it feels like there have been more this year. And they are right. The Department of Public Works said there have been more potholes this winter than in some recent years.
“So the number has definitely been climbing rapidly,” described DPS Public Information Officer Corey Ohlenkamp. “We’ve been noticing that on an operations end on all of the reports as residents have been filing those tickets.”
Ohlenkamp said new potholes have formed in the last several days, but the number of reports the department has received has also increased. He said the recent rain and freeze-thaw cycle is largely to blame for many of the potholes lately.
“Water gets into the roadway surface,” Ohlenkamp said. “It freezes and causes it [to form]. “Basically, like a cavity underneath the roadway, as tires keep hitting that, eventually that road surface that may look perfectly fine all of a sudden collapse and then you’ve got a pothole.”
The number of reported potholes tripled from last week to this week, up from 800 a week ago to nearly 2,400 right now.
“There are like whole sections where the lanes, people have to get over because otherwise they’re going to fall into a two-foot deep pothole,” Shields said.
Big or small, the driver said those roadway craters are damaging their cars.
“They’re tearing up my tires,” Evans said.
In fact, the damage can range from a few hundred dollars to a couple grand. From blown tires to wheel alignments, the repairs have been costly.
“This one in particular is about $4,000,” said Automotive Technician Nick Gottinger as he worked on one car severely damaged by potholes.
Shops like Pete’s Service Center have been dealing with numerous cars needing repairs after coming across potholes.
“You can see there’s significant damage to this front wheel,” Gottinger pointed out on one car. “The wheel is bent severely, there is a huge gouge on this sidewall. The strut lowered and ate into the tire, causing it to blow out. The car sits unlevel because the strut dropped about three inches, so that’s why it started eating up into this tire.”
Gottinger said if you cannot avoid a pothole, then just take it as slowly as you can. It is also important to make sure your tires are aired up properly.
“If you’ve got a low tire and you hit a pothole, it’s going to blow out sooner,” he said.
While the weather has made it difficult to keep craters from popping up underneath your tires, DPW said its crews are out there patching potholes up one by one.
“We’re constantly checking that number, checking where we can get crews out to start addressing those potholes,” Ohlenkamp said. “So far we’ve used about 270 tons of mix and that roughly equates to about 13,000 potholes.”
DPW encourages drivers to keep reporting any potholes they see and be sure to list a specific address.
Reporting a request is easy, people can use the RequestIndy app or website. You can also call the Mayor’s Action Center and report a pothole at 317-327-4622.
DPW also said you can file a tort claim with the city if there is damage, but you will need to prove the damage by sharing photos and repair receipts. The department said the city is only liable if DPW already knew about the pothole and had a reasonable amount of time to repair it.
File a damage claim with the city within the next 180 days. You can do that by using the Mayor’s Action Center App, by phone at 317-327-4MAC (4622), or on their website. Keep a copy of your claim, your receipts for bills relating to car repairs and your registered mail receipt.
