Are Michigan Potholes Worse This Year? Yup!

Is it just me, or are the potholes around the area a lot deeper, wider and more plentiful this year than they have been in a while?

Yup. 

As you drive down Diamond Avenue near Knapp, you become truly concerned that you may not get off that street without major damage to your front suspension, and while thinking that potholes in Michigan roads are commonplace this time of year, it's also seems like there are a lot more of them. And you may be right.

A report in the Monday morning edition of the Detroit Free Press confirms your hunch. The article states:

The pothole hotline operated by the Michigan Department of Transportation has already received 505 calls this year, according to MDOT spokesperson Diane Cross.  Last year, the MDOT received 299 calls to its hotline by April. The year before it was 215.

That means the state has received almost as many calls this year as the hotline received in the last two years combined. And pothole season isn't over yet.

It seems to me that would indicate your hunch is correct. Most county districts around the state are also reporting that they have run out of maintenance funds for this winter already and will be hard pressed to keep up with all the repairs that still need to be made.

The best theory as to why there are more craters in roads around the state is the up and down in temperatures. While we have seen dips into single digits throughout the winter, there have been just as many quick warm ups as well, and the steady freezing and thawing is probably the main culprit in the uptick in giant land mine sized potholes.

So with St. Patrick's Day on the horizon, let's celebrate our potholes like the Irish do, by writing a song about them.