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Rough Response to Rough Road Signs

JACKSON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Potholes have become so bad on one road in Luzerne County, “rough road” signs have gone up. Neighbors say the road in ...

JACKSON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Potholes have become so bad on one road in Luzerne County, "rough road" signs have gone up.

Neighbors say the road in the Back Mountain is long overdue for repairs, not warning signs.

County officials say they've been trying to cold-patch Chase Road in Jackson Township for weeks, but because of the bad weather, nothing is sticking. We spoke to one driver repairing a flat tire who says he's fed up with the situation.

Ryan Swire was busy putting a spare tire on his car for the second time in the last couple of weeks. He hit two potholes on Chase Road in Jackson Township and got flat tires both times.

"I try to avoid as many as I possibly can," Swire said. "Around here, you can't avoid a pothole. You try to avoid one, you're going to hit two more."

Rough Response to Rough Road Signs

The county recently put up "rough road" signs to warn drivers who may not be familiar with the tricky terrain, but quickly, another sign covered that up with a message many neighbors agree with. It read, "Patch the holes not put up signs Rough Roads."

"The way that you have to drive on these roads, it looks like you're driving drunk trying to avoid these potholes! It's awful."

People who live nearby say the pothole problem is the worst it's been in more than 20 years, and they don't see how these signs are going to fix it.

"You can put big signs up. You can put small signs up. It's not going to make a difference to anybody," Swire said.

Many drivers we saw swerved into the opposite lane to get out of the way of these road craters.

"If you go to miss one, you go into another one. They're absolutely deplorable, absolutely deplorable," Fran Newhart said.

The county says it's been cold patching for the last eight weeks, but the repairs are being undone by this winter's wild weather. Workers plan to do more permanent hot patch repairs on the road next week if Mother Nature cooperates, but neighbors aren't hopeful.

"Would it be nice for them to fix the holes? Yeah! But it's going to happen next year. It's going to happen the year after that. It's going to keep happening until they figure out, fix the whole road, not just patch them up," Swire added.

County officials say a paving project for Chase Road and others in the Back Mountain could be finished by October of this year.

Drivers say they'll believe it when they see it.

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