Potholes Aplenty Making For Driver Discontent Statewide

Get your fresh potholes here.

Nature's wild temperature swings this winter have served up an early and plentiful batch of the tire-thumping, bone-rattling divets in the road throughout the state. 

And that includes Marblehead.

DPW Assistant Director Arthur Graves says the potholes are out there. And crews have been filling them.

A recent Marblehead police log entry includes a report of a pothole on Rockaway Avenue, off Humphrey Street. 

On Monday, Rockaway was patched in several spots.

Crews cold patch the holes in winter, shoveling in a temporary fix that awaits warmer temperatures for longer term fixes with hot asphalt. 

The state Department of Transportation has a web page devoted to the off-putting openings. People can report potholes on a phone hotline or via email.

The combination of snow, ice and rain, along with temperatures both well below and well above freezing have made potholes a regular feature on roads throughout the state.

Melted water seeps into cracks and freezes. The thawing and freezing, expanding and contracting, initiates asphalt crumbling and buckling.

The result? Pot holes.

Long ones, short ones, deep or shallow, they make travel bumpy and can test your car's shocks and tie-rods, and leave you wobbling from the neck up like a bobble-head.