Pothole season is back and the cost is already adding up for some drivers

There are thousands of potholes in our area, and city of Hamilton crews are trying to keep up.

When the temperature varies dramatically as we’ve seen in the past few days you get potholes. Peter Sniuolis from the city of Hamilton, “typically when the snow falls, water will get under the asphalt, and with the cold temps it will freeze and cause the asphalt rise, so when it thaws, the water will leave a void there and with traffic running over the top of it, it will cause pressure and pothole will form.”

The city of Hamilton has already repaired 14 thousand potholes this year, and they expect to fix between 40 and 60 thousand by the end of the year.

Hitting a pothole can take a serious toll on our cars. James Maida from Locke Street Tire says customers have been coming in with damage to their wheels. On a steel wheel, they will bend, on an Alloy wheel, it will crack. The average price for a repair is between 300 and 400 dollars but it can be more according to CAA. There are a variety of things that can happen to your vehicle when you hit a pothole in terms of tires, a rim, a broken axel, or a bumper.

The city says the priority is given to main roads, followed by residential streets. If you see a pothole either on a main street or a side street, you can call 311 and report the pothole.

So far this year the city has spent almost a million dollars to repair potholes.