Motorists say potholes are costing them in car repairs

The spring weather condition is putting lots of smiles on people’s faces but, there are still somethings that are deeply frustrating to many in the Duluth area.

As we emerge out of a record-breaking winter season in the Twin Ports residents are dissatisfied by what some describe as an insane amount of potholes, with many spending hundreds of unbudgeted dollars on car repair.

We spoke to commuters and residents of the Duluth Heights Neighborhood.

Sabrina Fish is a commuter that recently repaired her car after hitting a pothole.

“It’s awful. I hit a pothole last month that gave me a flat tire and I sat overnight at Kwik Trip waiting for roadside assistance. And having my spare tire bad, I had to go buy, spent $100 on a new tire.”

Aaron Johnson say he has been a resident of the Duluth Heights Neighborhood for over 40-years and his street has never been resurfaced.

“It’s the worst I’ve ever seen it, and it’s not just our potholes that needs to be fixed. There are spots in our neighborhood that are completely across the road for an extensive distance, and so there’s nowhere to drive on the road other than into someone’s front yard.”

He also added that the neglect is costing his family a lot in car repairs.

“Yesterday, my son actually hit one of the potholes and damaged his car and it ended up breaking the rim of the vehicle and destroying the tire.”

Another resident of Duluth Heights Neighborhood said he has been writing to the City concerning the potholes for years.

“It’s terrible on our vehicles and breaks everything up which then cost us a lot in repairs. The City come by and just patch it every year and those same patches come up every year and the snow plow drives them right into my yard. I have to pick them all up and they get jammed up in my snow blower. So it’s a terrible situation. I wish they would do something about these roads because we pay extremely high taxes up here in this neighborhood.”

Another Duluth commuter Mery Barmey describe how bad the potholes are in her area.

“I do a lot of driving here in West Duluth and the potholes are horrendous. You have to actually drive around them because they can basically swallow your tires.”

A sigh of relief seems to be coming has the City of Duluth say it has commenced it construction season.