INDIANAPOLIS — It’s officially winter in Indianapolis, and with the switches from sub-freezing temperatures to sunny, comfortable December days, potholes are popping up across the Circle City.
The Indy Pothole Viewer shows more than 1,200 open potholes, as of Wednesday. Those numbers are expected to only grow as the winter stretches on. Already this season, Indianapolis has seen multiple days of snow and rain, meaning a lot of moisture seeping into the ground.
”The water gets down, freezes, expands underneath the concrete and then the thaws and releases that pressure,” said Auboni Hart with the Indianapolis Dept. of Public Works.
Crews have already been out filling potholes. The Indy Pothole Viewer also shows more than 600 potholes closed in three days or less, more than 400 closed in four to seven days and nearly 900 closed after more than a week.
If there’s a puddle in a pothole, crews can’t work, but on warmer and sunnier days they can. The only problem is a sunny day in the middle of winter usually means another thaw and the creation of more potholes.
”Sunny days are great, but they do contribute to that freeze-thaw cycle,” said Hart
The Indiana Dept. of Transportation is trying to be as proactive as possible with potholes on highways. A crew goes out overnight each Sunday to try and take care of as many as possible.
”You’ll notice in the I-465 area, we are usually filling potholes at night, so we are trying not to take those lanes during the day,” said Kyleigh Cramer with INDOT.
What drivers can do to help these crews out, is report the potholes along your commute.
”We don’t drive every single person’s commute to work or their destination every day,” Cramer said.
As the winter goes on, drivers will see more pothole crews out on the roads. Hart wants people to make sure to give them plenty of space and be patient.
”You can’t complain about the potholes and then be rude or disrespectful to our crews when they’re out there,” said Hart.
To report a pothole to INDOT you can go to the INDOT4U website or call (855) 463-6848. For Indy DPW, you can report a pothole through the Indy Pothole Viewer website.
