Potholes 101: As most of us know, potholes result from fatigue, or simple wear and tear, on road surfaces. And winter speeds the process up because water expands when it turns into ice, causing additional forces on already-cracked patches of road. Once a pothole forms, it keeps growing as broken chunks of pavement become detached from the surrounding surface, and the pothole fills with water, and components of the road surface are scoured loose as passing vehicles and plows churn up the mess.
Needless to say, the recent snowstorms have caused massive potholes, and no better examples can be found than those of W. Bridge St. in New Hope, Pennsylvania’s answer to the bomb-cratered Ho Chi Minh Trail. This of course is no rap on the solid work and long hours put in by the Borough’s public works team — they are not even responsible for Route 179, it’s a state road. It is just a visual record of the mess road repair workers are confronting, including a couple of downtown sidewalk scenes to round out the visual journey.
Updated Feb. 19, 12:48 p.m.
Another devilish duo of craters
An unholy pair of potholes
I think it would be much more effective if passionately concerned citizens protested by standing in the potholes during rush hours. Take a stand Mel!
How about addressing the numerous potholes in front of the New Hope Solebury high School and administrative offices. I would like to see Superintendent Raymond Boccuti have the courage along with his administrators, teachers, parents students and school board members standing on the Bridge Street sidewalk with signs pleading for Gov. Corbett to fix the potholes NOW. In addition, make a video which will be placed on U-Tube and call the mass media. A number of school buses and students in their cars go up and down West Bridge Street.
While I recognize these roads are the responsibility of PennDOT, I also believe the New Hope Borough needs to step in and find a temporary solution. These are now a matter of public safety. Swerving and rapidly breaking cars are going to cause a severe accident. Many of these potholes have been present for several weeks, especially the ones in front of Jamie Hollander. PennDOT is clearly not coming to our rescue. This is an epic failure on the part of New Hope and must be addressed.