Fix that road!

By ELISE FRANCO

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

Motorists have one thing left to fear after the snow, sleet and ice have melted off area roads: potholes.

Winter weather takes a toll on our roads and our tempers.

William Akers, of North Jackson, said a half-mile stretch of Ellsworth Road near his home is nearly impassable.

“They’re not potholes. They’re death traps,” he said. “My son lost his transmission in one. Anybody going over 30 miles per hour would lose their suspension.”

Akers said he drives the short stretch of Ellsworth, between U.S. Route 224 and Bailey Road, an average of four times a day.

“This is the third year now,” he said. “You have to have one wheel off the road to keep from going in a hole in some spots.”

Akers said his car is intact, for now, but he can’t imagine it staying that way if the road isn’t fixed, and soon.

State and county officials, however, say they’re doing what they can to make commutes less hazardous on vehicles.

Paula Putnam, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Transportation District 4, said crews are patching holes nowthrough the spring season.

“We wait until after our winter hits us,” she said. “Every time we get the snow and ice off the road, we turn around and are back out again filling potholes.”

ODOT is responsible for maintenance of interstate highways, U.S. routes and state routes.

Putnam said the holes that may seem like craters to those driving over them are caused by a freeze-thaw effect.

“Water penetrates the road surface where it freezes and expands and causes cracks in the pavement,” she said. “Under the weight of traffic, and with the freeze-thaw cycle, it eventually creates the pothole.”

She said the age of the pavement and type of winter determines where on the roads the potholes will be.

Putnam said two highways that are known for major potholes are Interstate 680 and U.S. Route 224.

“The worst roads are the oldest roads, the ones that haven’t been completely resurfaced in a long time,” she said. “With all the weather that we’ve had, [680] has just gotten beat up. We’re out on it all the time fixing it.”

Other roads on pothole patrol include portions of Indianola Avenue, Western Reserve Road, Ohltown Road and Mahoning Avenue.

But the worst of the bunch is the section of New Road between Meridian and Raccoon roads, said Marilyn Kenner, chief deputy engineer for Mahoning County.

Kenner said that stretch of road will be closed until permanent repairs can be made.

She said a faulty drainage system in the bend on New Road has been causing pothole and water drainage problems for some time.

The road closed Thursday, and Kenner said it will stay closed for six to eight weeks until the drainage system can be repaired.

“We can’t keep enough cold patch mix down because of the drainage problem,” she said. “We closed it down because it poses a hazard to the public.”

One reader who posted on Vindy.com agreed: “New Road was repaved last year, and a week after it was done the curve started to lift. ... Now the curve is dangerous and potholes and dips [are] on both sides of the road.”

You can help The Vindicator and its readers track the worst potholes in town by going to www.vindy.com/potholes and adding your pick for the baddest of the bunch to our interactive map.

Luckily for Akers, and others around the Valley, pothole relief is on the way. Kenner said Ellsworth Road is on the county’s list of pothole problem areas.

She said the holes will be filled, but the crews have 483 miles of county road to repair, so residents have to understand that it will take some time.

“We’re happy to hear from [residents],” she said. “We try to get out as soon as we can to patch the holes. ... we’re doing our best.”

Kenner said the engineer’s office is aware that potholes plague roads throughout the Valley. She said it was for this reason that every worker was taken off regular duty on Feb. 9 and reassigned to pothole patching crews.

“We do have a lot of potholes, and we are taking every available member of our staff to make crews to go out and patch,” she said. “We’ve got about 70 workers out daily.”

efranco@vindy.com