Massive potholes plague Valley roads

TEMPE, AZ — If you’ve hit the roads over the past few days, you've probably seen massive potholes just about everywhere you go. It’s all thanks to last week's rain that doused streets and freeways around the Valley.

“I’ve fixed cars that have hit potholes like that, that have torn loose parts of their front suspension,” said one Valley driver.

“If I hit one, even my wife is like 'ahh,' and I’m like, 'damn it' and I get out and check the wheels and everything,” said another.

We all know what it’s like to hit one and it’s never pretty.

“I try to avoid it, but I can’t, I just notice it once I hit the road, like I go 'oh my gosh there goes my tire,'” said another Valley driver.

“It really is Valley-wide. It’s from Interstate 17 in the North Valley on down to the San Tan Freeway in the southeast Valley, just about every freeway has some damage,” said Arizona Department of Transportation spokesman Doug Nintzel.

Heavy rains have literally washed away parts of our major roadways; leaving craters in the path of those in rush hour traffic. Some potholes stretching longer than fifteen feet and an inch deep.

Doug Nintzel says they’re attacking the hardest hit areas first. Priority one, Nintzel says, is Loop 202 east through Tempe and the San Tan 202, followed by Interstate 10.

“It’s gonna have to be a steady attack in terms of it’s not gonna happen in the next day or two, probably over the next couple of weeks,” said Nintzel.

“Rain is not our friend when it comes to the condition of our roadways,” said Monica Hernandez.

Hernandez is with the City of Phoenix and says crews are hard at work, filling every hole they can find.

“Our goal is to get out there ASAP, we want to take care of the potholes, we want to patch it up and prevent any further openings," said Hernandez.

She says the city repairs about 20 thousand potholes each year and this year's winter blast has made that number higher.

It may take weeks, or even months, to get the roadways back in shape, but both the city and ADOT say workers will be out day and night working to get it done.