The warm weather on Wednesday made for ideal conditions to fill potholes across the City of Erie.
Rough road conditions have already led to damage to vehicles, keeping auto repair shops busy.
City crews are working throughout Erie to address the issue.
“Erie winters are hard on our streets, we know that, so this is spread out throughout the city. We are on the east side today, but we have trucks going out in all the neighborhoods throughout the city, addressing complaints and making sure when we see them, we fill them”, explained Erie Mayor, Daria Devlin.
A mild day has kept members of the Erie Streets Department busy filling potholes.
While crews were focused on the east side, potholes are a problem seen all across the city. Residents are encouraged to contact the mayor’s office if they notice a pothole that needs attention.
The road damage is also affecting local businesses, as auto repair shops work to fix vehicles affected by potholes.
Victor Irizarry, owner of Prestige Auto Body said they are fixing all kinds of parts, “The biggest thing is tie rods, ball joints, control arms, wheels, tires, axels, struts, so anything that has to do with the suspension of the vehicle.”
Irizarry said while they have a solid inventory of parts, rising costs are becoming a concern.
“There’s definitely a difference in costs and we have noticed it. Parts that we have probably paid 60 bucks a year ago and now they are probably 80-85 bucks, it’s that big of a difference, whether it’s tariffs or it has anything to do with fuel costs”, said Irizarry.
Funding is also a concern when it comes to fixing roads in Erie, something Mayor Daria Devlin hopes to improve.
“The paving money is coming from some funds we would really like to free up for some other things. that means more money in the general fund budget. We only have about 2.5 million for paving overall. That includes the supplies we need for filling. We need more; we are not happy with where the funds are coming from. We absolutely know our residents deserve better. We need to work with city council to make sure we have the funds we need”, said Devlin.
If residents see a pothole that needs to be filled, they can call the city’s pothole line at 814-870-1340.