It’s the time of year when Thomas Bell typically gets calls about the poor condition of a road that isn’t his responsibility.
“This really does seem like ‘The Year of the Pothole,’ ” said Bell, superintendent of streets in Greensburg. “I think we’ve used more cold patching material than in the past two years.”
It’s pothole season in Western Pennsylvania. As winter melts into spring, it regularly brings cold nights that exacerbate the freeze-thaw cycle that creates potholes in the first place.
And while the damage might be located in a municipality like Greensburg, upkeep of the road falls to PennDOT when the designated road winds through multiple communities.
Alyssa Shawley of Champion drives Arona Road — another state-maintained highway — to her job in North Huntingdon, and it’s been a rougher ride than usual this spring.
“They tried cutting spots out and repaving, then decided to tar and chip over them,” Shawley said. “The spots that were cut and replaced are worse than the divots and holes that were there before. That road is so uneven your car needs an alignment after driving down it.”
A social-media callout to TribLive readers turned up frequent comments about a stretch of Route 66 north of Greensburg between the Shop ’n Save and Cabin Hill Drive. There, the past several springs have seen straight-line rows of potholes along both sides of the state-owned road, which was last resurfaced in 2014.
PennDOT District 12 spokesperson Melissa Maczko said paving of the Route 66 section, running between Pittsburgh Street and Locust Valley Road, has been advertised for cost bids.
“In the meantime, county maintenance crews will continue patching operations as needed to address any pothole or pavement issues until the resurfacing work is completed,” Maczko said.
PennDOT annually spends more than $1.8 million and uses an average of 1,900 tons of asphalt to repair potholes in its District 12 service area that includes Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties.
During the winter, PennDOT crews make temporary repairs to roads using cold-patch material — an asphalt mix containing soap, water and fine stones. The soap and water keep the material flexible, making it easier to work with, while hardening occurs as they evaporate.
In the spring, warm-mix asphalt — a blend of pure asphalt and fine stone heated to 250 degrees to 265 degrees — becomes available for more permanent repairs.
“Once we finish our regular paving, we’ll go around and do some hot patching on places where we’ve gotten a lot of potholes and received regular calls about,” Greensburg’s Bell said Friday.
In Greensburg, that includes Vannear Avenue between West Third and West Pittsburgh streets; College Avenue in the area of the tunnel near Seton Hill University; Maple Avenue, Beacon Street, Laird Street and others.
Bell said city crews will be doing less paving this year, after spending more liquid fuels money than expected on road salt.
“Streetlights, salt and paving is covered under our liquid fuels program,” he said. “And we used a good bit more salt this year.”
The state of roads in A-K Valley
Alle-Kiski Valley residents also responded to TribLive’s callout, voicing concern about streets in several municipalities.
Wildlife Lodge Road in Lower Burrell, especially a stretch just past the VFW Post 92, was among them.
Maczko said PennDOT is taking bids for repairs of 483 Wildlife Road. The VFW sits on 481 Wildlife, Maczko said.
“A timeline for completion will be available once a contractor is awarded for the project and a schedule is developed,” Maczko said.
She also said Westmoreland County crews will patch the Route 56 bypass in Lower Burrell as needed.
In nearby New Kensington, some people had concerns about Virginia Drive, which borders Lower Burrell.
Though the road isn’t slated for paving this year, said New Kensington Engineer Tony Males, the city does have a swatch of other roads to be repaired this year, including but not limited to Constitution and Oates boulevards, 7th Street Road, Beech Street, McLaughlin Drive and Industrial Street.
“This is the list as of now and as new (bid) pricing comes in the streets may vary slightly,” Males said. “It will be adjusted according to the bids that come in.”
PennDOT is doing a group paving project on Route 1001 along Freeport Road, East Seventh Avenue and East 10th Avenue expected to finish in 2027, said PennDOT District 11 spokesperson Nicole Haney.
Work on Seventh Avenue will be between Bailies Run Road in East Deer and Route 366 in Tarentum.
Repairs on Freeport Road and 10th Avenue work will be between Route 366 in Tarentum and Butler County.
“Improvement work includes milling and paving, drainage upgrades, base repair, pavement marking installation, guide rail improvements, and other various construction related activities,” Haney said.
Pothole hot-spots
We asked TribLive readers to send in the roads they drive most often where they’ve seen nasty potholes this season. While Route 66 just north of Greensburg was the runaway winner, here are some other roads that readers cited:
• Old Route 30 between Fontana’s Cafe and Giant Eagle in North Huntingdon
• Sections of Old Route 66 in Hempfield
• Arch Avenue in Greensburg
• Marguerite Lake Road in Unity
• Rostraver Road near Broad Avenue in Belle Vernon
• Logan Ferry Road near Plumline Nursery in Plum
• Claridge-Elliott Road near Triumvirate Environmental in Penn Township
• Sections of Arona Road between New Stanton and Irwin
Patrick Varine and Ember Duke are TribLive staff writers. Patrick can be reached at pvarine@triblive.com, Ember at eduke@triblive.com.