Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - While winter in Western New York is not ready to call it quits anytime soon, a recent warmup in the weather has started to reveal some of the more pesky problems with the melting snow on roadways across the region: Potholes.
While calls or complaints have not been made in many municipalities to this point of the season, some officials are already noticing some troubled spots.
"We have canvassed about two-thirds of the town, at one point or the other, when the crews are working in plow trucks, just to look for stuff, be proactive, try to fill-in what we can and stay ahead of it. We have started to see some variations in temperature, some above freezing temperatures, which will make the potholes start to show their ugly little heads," said Jamie Dussing, Highway Superintendent in the Town of Clarence.
In the Town of Colden, Highway Superintendent Lee Wohlhueter says his department is doing the best it can to combat any potholes as they do pop up.
"If they do pop up, we have a great crew. We're out there trying to be proactive and act on those things as they come about. But ultimately, conditions change day-by-day," said Wohlhueter in an interview with WBEN. "We can see potholes one day, where things are good, and the next day, you may see another pothole. It's constantly changing day-by-day."
The most favorable time for crews to patch up pesky potholes is when conditions are as warm and dry as possible on a given day.
"It's very hard to do when it's snowing out, when it's wet out. It really makes the adhesive capabilities of that cold patch almost nil," Dussing said. "You need some [nice] weather, and you need the time to do it. So really, it is just a matter of knowing where they are, and addressing them as they come up."
"Quiet weather allows the crews, all of us to get out and do the best we can to get the water out of the holes and get them treated the best we can to get the patch in there to make it most effective so the plows won't go and dig it back out, and also the water won't freeze in that hole that's been covered up with the patch and pop it right back out," Wohlhueter added.
If done right, patch work on potholes can last throughout the upcoming year. However, if not patched up correctly, crews can be out almost on a weekly basis trying to fill-in a pothole.
"If you see that freeze/thaw cycle just continue to repeat itself, you'll be patching the same pothole probably once a week. But if you take your time, you prepare that hole, clean it out, maybe use a little bit of heat and a good product, sometimes you can get it to stay in all summer long. That's obviously what we're hoping for, or until we can address it and hot patch it in the spring and summer months," Dussing said. "But yes, usually, as we all know as Western New Yorkers, you see the same pothole over-and-over, because that cold patch just doesn't seem to bond and stay into the hole."
And when it comes to the possibility of addressing some potholes on local roads in the upcoming week or two, highway superintendents across the region are watching the changing conditions day-by-day.
"The Northtowns might be getting some snow, the Southtowns might be getting some decent weather to get out and do that. Each municipality is assessing it day-by-day as to what their operation can be," Wohlhueter said. "Whether it'd be still, in some cases, snow removal and making room for more snow, to getting patch crews out there to try to do the best they can and alleviate the situation. But again, it's constantly changing day-by-day, and the weather in Western New York, it can change hour-by-hour."