Potholes popping up, plaguing drivers across the area

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Roads pockmarked with potholes are a never-ending challenge for both drivers and repair crews.

One driver who feels your pain is Megan Frame of Conshohocken. She hit one on the Schuylkill Expressway near City Avenue.

"My car started shaking, and I pulled off and I had a flat tire and broken CV joint in my axle," she said. "When PennDOT arrived they were very kind, but said I was the 10th person since the gentleman's shift started."

Her repairs will cost hundreds of dollars. She says the experience was frustrating, and she's hoping the pothole is filled soon so no one else feels her pain.

"It is extremely frustrating, especially when you have as much damage as I did," she said. "When I saw the estimate, I felt like Tom Brady during the Super Bowl... it hit me hard."

Brad Rudolph with PennDOT said drivers can blame the weather for a majority of the potholes.

"This has been a severe outbreak. It has been a season like 2015 where we saw a lot of freeze/thaw cycles. It gets cold, it gets warm and you have precipitation mixed in, which is causing a lot of deterioration to the pavement," he said.

PennDOT says crews are patching about 60 to 70 highways a week to keep up with demand. Rudolph says the best thing to do is watch your speed and try to avoid potholes safely.

"We expect it to get worse before it gets better, but we are going to be out there every day, when we are not providing winter services, patching those roads," said Rudolph.

At a South Philadelphia AAA car care center, mechanics always see an uptick in business this time of year.

"This definitely is the season for potholes. I believe our tire calls have gone up significantly in the last two months," said Dan Cave.

Here's some advice from an expert.

"You are going to hit potholes, it is just the nature of living in Philadelphia and driving on the roads in this cold weather climate," he said. "Just try not swerve too far out of the way. Take the damage and have your car serviced regularly and checked up."

If you encounter a pothole problem in Philadelphia, you can call 311. If you are on a Pennsylvania road, call PennDOT at 1-800-FIX-ROAD.

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