Potholes are sneaky. They pop up all the time during the winter months as the temperatures vacillate above and below the freezing mark and plows go over them to clear snow and ice. If we’re lucky, we see them before we drive our vehicles over them. Many times we are not.
Hubcaps stranded on the roadside and frequent flats are a testament to how pesky a problem this is, while savvy motorists learn to avoid certain corridors at all costs. When the potholes get particularly bad, angry callers will beg Town Hall to get its act in gear and fix the problem.
Unfortunately, getting some potholes filled isn’t as easy as making a call or sending an email. The reason is because different highway departments maintain different roads, and some of the worst stretches in Albany County aren’t under the jurisdiction of the towns they’re in.
The Town of Bethlehem has been inundated as of late by complaints about the pothole problems on Kenwood, Delaware and Elsmere avenues. While the town would love to fill the holes, they can’t because New York State is responsible for them. And there is no telling when the state will send its Department of Transportation trucks out to fix the holes.
Bethlehem Highway Superintendent Brent Meredith told The Spotlight that the state isn’t obligated to do maintenance so “they can do it whenever they want, basically.”
Likewise, the Town of Colonie is limited to repairing the roads they own. The state is the one in charge of patching the potholes on main roads such as Route 9 and Central Avenue. That can lead to driver consternation.
“The state, the county and the town all have roads in this town. We all just maintain our roads,” said Jack Cunningham, the town Commissioner of Public Works. “People automatically assume that if the roads are in the town, then it’s the town’s responsibility. But what they don’t realize is the infrastructure that’s involved.”
Compounding the problem is what the town highway departments have at their disposal to fight the potholes. They must use what is known as a cold patch, an asphalt-based material that sets quickly when it’s tamped down or rolled over by a tire. While it’s effective in the short term, it can easily be pulled up by snowplows as they clear the streets.
“The unfortunate part of it is the staying effect of a cold patch is not great,” said Cunningham. “But … it’s better than not filling the hole at all.”
So for now, many drivers are simply stuck with “better than nothing,” while the towns do what they can to keep up with potholes on their roads.
Cunningham said Colonie patch crews roaming the town’s streets looking for holes to fill. Meanwhile, Bethlehem is using its town website to let residents know the state is responsible for filling the majority of the potholes inside its borders, since the roads involved are all state owned.
You can also report a pothole on state roads by calling 1-800-POTHOLE. Then, you’ll have to be patient for the state to get around to filling the hole, which could be a while — long enough for Spring to roll around and make the whole pothole point moot.