LACKAWANNA COUNTY -- PennDOT trucks were ready Wednesday morning, crews hoped to get a start on patching potholes. But instead, those crews needed their plows again.
PennDOT officials said this persistent winter is keeping potholes from getting filled.
In the afternoon sunlight, potholes all over Scranton became puddles filled with melted snow, a familiar sign of spring. But, what a difference a few hours makes.
Earlier in the day, PennDOT crews were out in a near whiteout in Lackawanna County. PennDOT had planned to fill the same trucks with pothole patch and deploy them to areas of I-81 and to streets in Scranton. But, the unexpected snow changed that plan.
The snow still wasn't an excuse that pleased drivers, some who say this is the worst year for potholes they've seen in quite some time.
"I hope with the transportation bill that was signed by Tom Corbett that something will get done this year. It needs to be vented out there, I've had to do alignments on my van a couple times," said Charles Anderson of Kingston.
PennDOT officials said potholes on state roads are what they hear about most these days. But, plans to fix them are as unpredictable as the weather.
"By mid-morning they moved them from the pothole patching into the snow plowing and treating the roads. It's just been a crazy weather pattern that we've had over the last few days and the last few hours," said PennDOT spokesperson James May.
PennDOT officials said the weather needs to be dry for them to patch potholes.
Drivers said dry weather, like spring, can't come soon enough.
"It's bad, you got to keep slowing down to avoid the potholes. Some of them are so deep they jar your teeth!" added Frank Baux of Scranton.
Streets in the city of Scranton that may need patching are up to the city DPW to fix. Newswatch 16 reached out to Scranton's DPW director but we haven't heard back.