Charlotte Newton was driving along Nicholson Lane in Rockville, Maryland when she ran into a familiar roadway hazard: a pothole.
“It didn’t sound good,” Newton said.
When she got home, Newton realized she had a flat tire – which ended up costing her nearly $800 to repair. And then she wrote MCM to see if she could help others avoid her fate.
Newton’s story isn’t unique. Montgomery County repairs an average of 10 potholes every day according to Degan Bartels, the Public Relations and Outreach Manager for the county Department of Transportation’s Division of Highway Services. In 2023, around 2,300 potholes were reported and repaired, he said.
“When I get in my car, I just grit my teeth,” Newton said in an interview with Montgomery Community Media.
Potholes can cause accidents, puncture tires and make driving more stressful. However, transportation officials say there is one easy fix: reporting.
“Our goal at all times is to do the best job we can to keep roads in good condition. That said we can’t fix every problem and we can only do so much,” Bartels said in an interview. “Potholes are going to happen, but thankfully we live in Montgomery County where it’s very easy to get a pothole fixed.”
Potholes form when moisture seeps underneath a road, causing the pavement to expand as the water freezes and thaws – eventually creating a hole in the asphalt. Areas with older, high-trafficked and storm-prone roads are more vulnerable to potholes. Most potholes tend to pop-up during colder months or after storms, according to Bartels.
The best way to solve the county’s pothole problem is reporting the damage to the county, state or municipality that owns the road. To find out which government controls the roadway, the State Department of Transportation runs an online map, called Know Your Roads, to help with identification.
Potholes on county roads should be reported by calling 311 (the County’s customer service center) or filling out a service request form online. Reported county potholes usually get filled within three days, Bartels said, barring severe weather.
“Our crews are out there working every day rain or shine,” Bartles said about the county’s response.
When you see a pothole on a state highway, the Maryland Department of Transportation encourages the public to use their customer service link. Some local municipalities also manage roads and have their own repair teams.
So far in 2024, over 1,000 reported repaired potholes have been tracked in Montgomery County, according to county data. Bartels asserts this number is an underestimate because often crews patch up multiple potholes in response to one report. In a year, Bartles said, there may be around 10,000 potholes filled.
The most important takeaway, Bartles said, is for the public to report any potholes to the road’s corresponding transportation department.
