Experts: Worst Year for Potholes

DULUTH - Professionals across the board say potholes this year are the worst they've ever seen.

“There's no city street you can drive on that is not full of holes,” explained Dale Dieryck, owner of Dieryck Services in West Duluth. "This is the worst year I've seen."

Whether it’s broken suspension shocks or struts, it's the gaping pot holes like the one on 10th Avenue East and 4th Street that will land your car in the mechanic shop and cost about $300.

If you think of the road, it's a bunch of small rocks and particles.

A pothole is formed when snow and ice get in the cracks and expand.

Combine that with heavy traffic, and you get a pothole.

“The reason the roadways are not in that great of a shape is not because people are not paying attention to it,” explained UMD professor of civil engineering, Eshan Dave. "It's because we live in harsher conditions, it's harder to maintain the roadways.”

Experts say the main reason for huge holes is the seven and a half feet of snow and 71 days below zero.

Also, Duluth is built on a hill which makes matters even worse.

There are some people who swerve to miss them and some who avoid certain roads completely.

The best advice we found is to take it slow.

“If you're going 40 or 50 miles an hour and you hit it, that sharp blow is what blows you're tire every time,” Dieryck said.

To file a pothole complaint with the city of Duluth, Click here.