Potholes rampant along West Mich. roads

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - To West Michigan drivers, it will come as no surprise that many roads have potholes.

Road crews have been hard at work filling as many of the pesky holes as they can.

"When we are not on snow removal, somewhere between 15 and 20 employees will be patching," Jerry Byrne, Kent County Road Commission maintenance director, told 24 Hour News 8. "One crew will probably fill 100 to 150 potholes a day."

Currently, crews have two elements working against them -- the deteriorating roads and the weather.

He said when temperatures rise and fall above and below freezing, this helps create perfect conditions to form potholes.

And patches are not a permanent fix.

"If we have a lot of rain and a lot of freezing or thawing, that could be out in a week. On a real busy street, they could be out in the matter of a day," Byrne said.

Also, large amounts of rain and snow create problems, specifically with the sand and gravel that sit under roads.

"The conditions of our roads over the past 10 years have gone downhill. Gas tax revenues are flat, people are spending less money on gas, they're getting more fuel-efficient cars, so there is less revenue coming in to fill potholes," Byrne said.

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Online:

Pothole information from Michigan Department of Transportation

How to report a pothole