Mar 2, 2017 3 min read

If the mildness of the season continues, savings on ice-melting materials will translate into more money for municipalities to make warm-weather road repairs.

“We’ve been knock-on-wood fortunate this winter,” said Washington Councilman Ken Westcott, head of the road department. “If the season stays like it is, the money we’re not spending for salt will be left over to use toward summer patching and paving.”

Canonsburg Mayor Dave Rhome said the temperate winter also has benefited the borough.

“Overall, our roads are in pretty good shape. We’re doing really well staying within the budget. There have not been a lot of overtime call-outs for plowing and salting. That’s a real bonus,” Rhome said.

Higher temperatures, though, do not eliminate potholes, which are caused when snow and ice melt as part of freeze-thaw cycles. The resulting water seeps beneath the pavement through cracks caused by traffic wear.

“Fortunately, the weather has been such that we can do cold patching,” said Westcott. “Unfortunately, it’s a temporary fix.”

Some large potholes have been spotted throughout the city. Westcott said Tyler Avenue – a priority for major spring road repairs – continues to cause problems because of stormwater that doesn’t drain efficiently.

During Wednesday’s heavy rain, a motorist’s vehicle was moderately damaged after hitting a large pothole at the corner of Jefferson and West Hallam avenues, near Washington High School.

“We fixed our portion of Hallam. That’s PennDOT’s portion of the road,” said Westcott. “It’s a matter of them coming out and taking care of it.”

“We have had quite a few calls about potholes across the districts this year, including the ones on Jefferson Avenue,” said Valerie Petersen, a state Department of Transportations spokeswoman, in an email. “As we receive the calls, or they are spotted by our work crews, they fill them, weather permitting.”

In Greene County, the situation is not as dire.

“We don’t have a major pothole problem right now,” said Jerry Simkovic, manager for PennDOT in Greene County.

“We were patching as recently as this morning,” he said. “We concentrate on them in the spring, but what we do is the main roads first, like Interstate 79 and Routes 21 and 18.”

He said the freeze and thaw cycles are bad for the roads, but the winter was generally more mild than usual, so there weren’t as many issues. He also said some of the main roads, like Routes 21 and 18, have been paved recently which also helps reduce the number of potholes.

In 2016, PennDOT spent $35.2 million for pothole repairs, using almost 53 thousand tons of asphalt.

Waynesburg Borough Manager Mike Simms also said his street department has been patching potholes recently, but said he hasn’t noticed it being worse than last year.

“To me, it seems better than last year,” he said. “You’re going to start seeing them develop with all the freezing and the thawing that we have.”

To report a state road concern or pothole, call 1-800-FIX-ROAD.

Staff writer Katie Anderson contributed to this story.