Winter Weather Creates More Potholes On Tulsa Roads

The snow has melted, but the winter weather has left some bumpy roads behind. The back-to-back storms have caused hundreds of potholes across the city.

Driving around town, you can't go far without coming across a pothole.

City crews worked a 16-hour day to get some of the largest holes filled.

From big pot holes in the eastbound lanes of the Broken Arrow Expressway, to smaller ones on city streets, the eye-sores known as potholes can cause damage to vehicles.

That's why city crews started filing them right away - the biggest ones are first priority according to Street Maintenance Manager, Tim McCorkell.

"If there's a lot of smaller ones in an area, we may bypass those at first to address the more hazardous issues," he said.

Crews on MLK Boulevard worked quickly to clear out debris, cover up holes, and move on to the next one - sometimes just inches away.

“We do it all winter long, so in between every storm, that's what we spend our time potholing," McCorkell said.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation is in charge of highway repairs, but crews have been so busy spreading sand and salt that they haven't even had a chance to fix any potholes or cracks.

3/4/2015 Related Story: Tulsa, State Road Crews Treating Roads After Winter Storm Slams Into Oklahoma

"The southern part of Tulsa County got more snow and ice then the northern part of the country, so even though the sun is out they are still going out and making sure the slush is pushed off the roadway," said Kenna Carmon with ODOT.

Car wrecks in the snow and ice have led to drivers taking out guard-rails and signs on almost every highway.

3/4/2015 Related Story: Tulsa Police Work Multiple Car Crashes

Carmon hopes crews can start repairs on Friday.

"It is going to take some time to recover from all of these rounds of weather we have had, crews have been in emergency response mode and have had very little time to get into a maintenance mode,” said Carmon.

While there's no way to know exactly how much damage has been done yet, the drastic temperature changes haven't been good for any stretch of road.

If you see a problem on the roadways you're asked to call either the city, if it's on a city street, or ODOT if it's a highway.

Both are asking for your patience as crews make these repairs.