Plethora Of Potholes Has Drivers On Long Island Seeing Red; Officials Say Help Is On The Way
MINEOLA, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - There's a plethora of potholes everywhere.
County, state and federal funding will help roads after our tough winter.
The pothole fixes can't come soon enough, complain angry drivers on Long Island.
As CBS2's Jennifer McLogan reports, from inside a vehicle, it can be hard to hang on. Drivers wonder how long until they lose their teeth and drain their bank accounts.
"I feel every bump inside my body. The car shakes," said Mineola driver Tuncay Kah.
Rims bent, tires flattened, it will a $1,000 fix for Kah's luxury car with low profile tires.
Al Eisenberg, owner of Al's Hubcaps in Mineola, says business is beyond brisk.
"Now the potholes are everywhere," he said. "Now it's flowing, hitting hard. The guys are going to start doing overtime, because people cry."
Crying for relief, and County Executive Laura Curran, for one, says immediate pothole help is on the way.
"We need to get back to work. We need to get our kids back in school. Getting around is key to making that happen," Curran said.
Although filling potholes is a Band-Aid approach, the county is also doing short- and long-term road repaving, a proactive approach to keep roads safe after a snowy winter of melting, freezing and expanding says the Washington based think tank Trip.
Trip figures show nearly half of New York's major roads are in poor or mediocre condition - a number that climbs to nearly 70% on Long Island.
Much of it is caused by heavy truck traffic.
"Most cities get probably 50% of their freight by rail. We get 96% of our freight by truck," said AAA Northeast spokesman Robert Sinclair.
Allison Leach of Uniondale says deep craters even cause road rage.
"It's pretty jarring when you hit the potholes. Especially, some of them are really deep. It's dangerous," she said.
Before your blood pressure boils over, check your tire pressure, and heads up behind the wheel.