“Typical Ann Arbor”

Potholes+covering+the+entry-road+to+the+Meadowins+subdivision+

Potholes covering the entry-road to the Meadowins subdivision

“Omnipotent and omnipresent,” Ray Lewis (a resident of Ann Arbor) warned,  potholes have speckled every road in Ann Arbor. They give cars a seizure, and simulate an earthquake. Watching someone avoid potholes is oddly similar to watching drunk driving.

They may be nice baths for birds, but driving through them destroys your tires and avoiding them is hazardous for others; they are unavoidable and Ann Arbor, or the Washtenaw County Road Commission, needs to fix that. Just last week, I saw the cement ripped out of a filled-in pothole, so the solution is not to temporarily fix them.

I went house to house in my neighborhood to get opinions on potholes, and Lisa Murray heatedly said: “They are a waste of money. Ann Arbor should invest more money in fixing the roads with more durable materials.” This was a similar idea shared by many of the neighbors.

Potholes are formed by water getting into cracks on the road, and causing them to expand when the water freezes and they are especially bad this year because of the roller coaster weather – the water has repeatedly frozen and melted over and over.

As of 2013, they are the 19th leading cause of car accidents (behind road rage and before drowsy driving). There is a strain on the car’s suspension and shocks when driving over a pothole, and the expenses to repair it adds up every spring when they are extremely prevalent. This can be fixed;  driving needs to be more efficient and people should not have stress during it.

There is no use in impermanently filling in potholes. Instead, new roads should be constructed. It is something that people think is worth spending money on. According to Becky Clark, this is “typical Ann Arbor,” but we can change typical Ann Arbor for the better.

Other neighborhood quotes:

“Miserable.” -Julia Kim

“They’re not just unsightly, they’re terrible for vehicles and dangerous for pedestrians.” -John Glazer

“Potholes are horrible.” -Isabella Konnak

“It needs immediate attention.” -Smita

“They are everywhere as soon as you cross the Ohio border into Michigan.” -Chad Farley

“Horrible.” -Bob Hernandez

“They are dangerous and damage cars.” -Fei Li

“Terrible, there is no more road anymore.” -Stein Housner

“Just change the road.” -Catherine Kim