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Fixing Pothole Problems In Northeast PA

LUZERNE COUNTY — Parts of northeastern Pennsylvania are under a “pothole blitz” starting Monday. Those who live in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Susque...

LUZERNE COUNTY -- Parts of northeastern Pennsylvania are under a "pothole blitz" starting Monday. Those who live in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike, or Wyoming counties are likely to see crews filling those craters at long last.

It is no secret. It has been a rough winter that has caused quite a bumpy ride for many drivers in the Northeastern part of the state.

There are literally thousands of potholes in the area. So finally with good weather and asphalt plants opening up Monday, crews started the daunting task of smoothing out the roads.

Some people are calling potholes the "footprints of winter," and the sheer number of them throughout the state remind us of just how bad it was.

"I don`t think it matters what road you go on, you are going to find a pothole. They are horrible. They are tearing cars apart," said Melissa Isom of Weatherly.

"I think the whole trouble is, it`s been such a bad winter. And it just stayed," added Joseph Reba of Hazleton.

Crews with PennDOT agree, saying this is the first real chance they have had to get out and tackle the pothole problem.

"We didn`t get a chance to come out and do much maintenance on the roads, but now that it`s got warmer, we are in full gear now," said William Jones, a foreman with PennDOT.

Jones and his crew were fixing a pothole along Route 924 near Hazleton. All a part of a "pothole blitz" unlike one PennDOT has ever done before.

"We are doing this two week blitz, where we are putting all of our resouces into the potholes. We're out throughout the whole northeastern Pennsylvania, but just here in Luzerne County we had crews in Mountain Top, Dallas, Hazleton," said James May with PennDOT.

The mayor of Hazleton says there are more than 1,000 potholes throughout the city. While PennDOT was out Monday on a blitz, the city`s DPW will join in on tackling more potholes Tuesday.

"We will put everything we have out at the same time as penndot is doing. It`ll be a good thing to see the progress is being made with the potholes," Mayor Yannuzzi said.

PennDOT says Hazleton is the only city in Luzerne County that has coordinated a blitz with the state.

"We want to coordinate with PennDOT so that if they are working on their streets, we`ll stay away so we don`t have congestion."

The goal at the end of this two week blitz is to have 80 percent of all the potholes filled  throughout northeast Pennsylvania.
To help with that goal, PennDOT is asking people to call 1-800-FIX-ROAD with specific locations of potholes.
In Hazleton, people can call the city`s Department of Public Works.

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