Could New England Have the Worst Pothole Season Ever in 2024?

Oh, here we go! It's that time in New Hampshire and all over New England where we (and our cars) have to endure: pothole season.

We all know that feeling of driving down the road after a winter of plowing, snow, and sleet, and playing dodgeball with all the holes in the roads, especially here in New England with the small towns and roads that never even see a plow.

In Lee, for instance, one of the prettiest towns in New Hampshire, the roads can be full of holes.  You never know where the biggest ones are either, because they always look the same on the surface.

Some of them are only two or three inches deep, but it varies so much.  You can never really tell how deep one is until you hit one, and your tire, if not flat, has a gash that needs repair. You and I know that you can rarely replace just one tire.  You gotta do at least two.

Lucky us (sarcasm here), we are in for it even worse than we might think, and you can blame it on a couple of things.

According to the National Weather Service Boston, July was one of the wettest months in history in the Boston area.  Rain breaks down roadway surfaces, whether it is made out of asphalt or dirt, which leads to the second reason why.

The temperature changes create a void under the pavement and could collect more water, a pothole fact sheet from the Metropolitan Transportation Committee in California stated. If it happens over and over, the void can increase.

Now, combine that with all the cars that continuously drive over the weakened spot, and you come up with a potentially massive hole in the road.

CBS News reported that in Boston alone, there were over 7,000 potholes filled in 2023. And that's just Boston. Now imagine what 2024 might be.

NBC 10 News stated that AAA has reported that the rain and freezing temps in January is already contributing to an earlier start to pothole season.

According to Autoinsurance.com, "The Northeast has the highest potholes per capita at 24 percent more than the national average." Get ready, it seems.

A good suggestion to be prepared for a damaged tire is to keep a good spare in the car.  This wouldn't help me, however, because I can't change a tire.

Good luck to us all!