SCRANTON -- PennDOT calls the wild swing we've had in temperatures the past few days a perfect recipe for potholes. Some real craters have been opening up all over our area, and after the deep freeze tomorrow, we should expect even more.
A trip down the Morgan Highway in Scranton is certainly a bumpy one, just one of the roads in our area falling victim to what seems like a plague of potholes.
"It feels like I'm driving on the moon sometimes, after the end of every week I have to take my car in to get the alignment done on it,” said Mark Oressey of Scranton.
But especially after this weekend, drivers are noticing pothole problems all over the place. Some of them like the massive crater on Main Avenue in Scranton are marked. Most of them drivers have to spot on their own.
"Oh, it's a pain in the butt,” said Joann Nashi of Scranton. “I worry about my car, I hope nothing happens to it and I hope they fix the holes at some point."
PennDOT knows some of the roads are rough, but the combination of temperatures below zero, into the 50s and back to the cold is perfect for potholes. The problem is, right now, there can only be temporary fixes.
“I guess the cold weather then warm and back to cold tends to pop everything out,” said Jerry Simancek of Gouldsboro.
Simancek says he certainly has to drive differently.
"Very carefully, slowly, carefully and cross my fingers that I don't knock the truck out of alignment or blow a tire."
At Sandone Tire in Scranton, they've been seeing the results of potholes that have become tire killers.
"They're coming in a lot more often, cracked rims, blowouts, and tires."
And at Sandone, there's even a big pothole right out front that could create some business for them.
"You can hear it, you can hear it in the store all day, people hitting the pothole."
PennDOT says it is trying to get to the potholes but permanent fixes require consistent warm weather. That's not in the forecast. More potholes are.