Nothing can ruin a perfectly good spring afternoon like a giant pothole.
The dreaded sound of "thud thud" and the hiss of a tire going flat is an unwelcome sound to any motorist, especially a money-strapped college student.
Tommy Cronin, a junior in operations management, knows the pains of hitting a pothole and the effect it had on his wallet. "The other day I was driving on campus and hit a pothole and blew out the left rear tire of my black Toyota 4-Runner," he said. "And unfortunately I have a pretty expensive set of tires ... it cost me around $200 to replace."
Facilities Operations and Development at Ohio State is responsible for filling the potholes and often have trouble finding the necessary help to keep up with the streets on campus.
Larry Reed, building maintenance superintendent 2 for Facilities Operations and Development, said they are responsible for campus roads north of Ninth Street, south of Lane Avenue, east of Carmack Road and west of High Street. He also said there is no designated crew for potholes because of retirements and transfers; they get whoever is on the job that day to fill them in.
Reed said they use a cold mix, which is a mixture of asphalt and other substances, to fill in the hazards. But the cold mix does not always work because "it all depends on the condition of the road, if the road is in bad condition then the chances of the pothole sinking again is greater," Reed said.
Greg Sutton, a junior in microbiology, had his tire blown out by a pothole and was fortunate to have a full-size spare tire, but his car suffered other damage.
"I think the suspension gets all messed up because you're just nailing those potholes. You can't avoid them," he said.
Sutton also said there are a few places where potholes are particularly bad and where he pays extra attention.
"They're all over the place really. Some are big, some are small; 10th is really bad over near Marketplace," he said. "I don't have any more spare tires."
Cronin also said he must be more careful.
"Now that something has happened to me and knowing that it can actually cause damage, I am definitely more careful," he said.
Reed said there is a hot line to call to report a pothole, 292-HELP, or Reed is available directly at 292-6604. He said facilities usually responds within 48 hours.
Patrick Fox can be reached at fox.444@osu.edu.
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