Clarence, N.Y. (WBEN) - With the Western New York weather warming back up as winter draws near its end, those pesky potholes make their return along roadways across the region.
"It's officially pothole season for the next month or two until we can start hot patching roads," said Clarence Highway Superintendent and president of the New York State Association of Town Superintendents of Highways.
While it is still very early in the pothole season locally, Dussing believes this year will not be as bad as years past with road conditions.
"As of right now, I don't think it's a particularly bad year. There are some larger holes and some deeper holes that I've seen on different municipality roads, but I wouldn't say this year is any worse than others," Dussing said with WBEN.
How much of the extended stretch of cold weather this winter could make potholes worse this spring? Dussing says it's not the extreme cold to worry about, it's the frost.
"Some years we don't see much of a frost, but this year, there's definitely a frost in the ground, you can see some heaving on all roads," he explained. "Once that frost starts to come out, that road is going to flex a little bit more with traffic and different vehicles - trucks, buses, garbage trucks - and you're going to start seeing those potholes come out."
While much of the local discussion among highway superintendents this year has surrounded salt supply and state budgets, Dussing says the pothole season is always on their minds.
"Certainly all municipalities, whether you're state, county or towns, villages, everybody has a crew out addressing potholes," he said. "We also share information into our offices. If something comes in on a state road or a county road, we're certainly willing to share that information with our municipal partners, and try to get it addressed. And we all try to help each other out. If we see something that we can easily get on somebody else's road, we'll try to fill that hole just so nobody damages their vehicle."
When it comes to preparations for the pothole season this year, Dussing says it's nothing different from years past.
"We're just going to stay on top of it, keep a crew out every day. We're going to watch the phones and our emails, and and make sure the potholes are getting addressed in a reasonable amount of time," Dussing added.
If anyone has any pressing concerns with a pothole on their road this spring, Dussing says don't hesitate to contact your local highway department.
"We obviously answer the phones Monday through Friday, regular business hours, but we also have after hours numbers, and you can always reach us at our emails. We monitor those 24 hours a day, seven days a week," he said.