Philadelphia's Pothole Situation Is Out Of Control

Winter is no good for roads, and Philadelphia is having an especially hard time.

On a three-mile stretch of City Avenue, Philadelphia magazine's Victor Fiorillo counted more than 300 potholes — just on the northbound side of the street.

A PennDOT spokesperson told him a season full of snow, freezing temperatures, and rain has made repairs an uphill battle:

"With those extreme temperature changes and all that precipitation, we had pavements breaking everywhere. It was a shockwave. This is as severe a situation as we’ve experienced in quite some time."

Potholes are formed when snow and ice melt and seep into cracks in the pavement, according to Michigan's DOT. That water freezes again during cold nights and expands, pushing the pavement up. As temperatures rise again, the ground beneath the pavement lowers again, but the pavement doesn't. Cars drive over that cavity, cracking the pavement and creating a pothole.

A Philadelphia Streets Department spokesperson confirmed that this winter has been an especially tough one for dealing with potholes.So far in 2014, the department has filled 3,975 potholes. At this point last year, the number was just 1,540.

The problem is that potholes started showing up earlier than usual this year — in January instead of February or March — and street crews are busy struggling to deal with the huge amount of snow dumped on the city this winter.