Winter is now behind us and the snow has melted, but something else is blooming beside the may flowers - potholes. Our Western New York weather helps with the growth of potholes in the spring months, and now crews all over are working to fight against the road menace.

"There's not a dull day in the highway department," said Lancaster Highway Superintendent Richard Reese. "They're aggravating, they're a nuisance but they're something that has to be addressed. You can't just blow them off because they're a hazard."

The Lancaster Highway department Western New York's pothole problems are escalated due to a harsh winter season, and extreme freeze-thaw condition.

"Potholes are caused by water infiltration under the road itself it gets under the base," said Reese. "Especially when you start getting the freeze-thaw conditions what that does is it literally moves the road up and down."

Now, new technology is emerging to help with the fight against potholes. A new machine called the "Pothole Killer" can literally repair a hole in under a minute.

"It's fully self-automated from in the cab of the truck," said Scott Kleiger operations officer for Patch Management of Morrisville, Pennsylvania. "The operator never gets out onto the roadway, it mixes materials and shoots them in at his fingers tips, it mixes it and drives on, it takes about 30 to 50 seconds to do an average potholes."

Potholes are also linked with huge car damage. It is estimated that americans each year spend billions of dollars on car repairs due to potholes.

"If you hit a hard enough pot hole you can actually damage a transmission pan, an engine pan, lose fluid, and cause severe damage," said AAA Auto Repair Specialist John Scheider. "A tire can cost a hundred dollars, some of these aluminum rims cost several hundred dollars, if you start getting into shocks and steering components that can run into easily 5,6,7 hundred dollars."

Highway Departments like Lancaster encourage citizens to report potholes problems on the road. The City of Buffalo has also created a 48-hour Pothole Repair Guarantee Program. Citizens can call 851-4890 to report a pothole and the city guarantees the hole will be fixed within 48 hours.
Motorists can also go to the website