New Jersey's rough winter of bitter cold, lots of rain and snow and the occasional warm day have created potholes all over New Jersey. Milder temperatures will create even more potholes and open up previously patched ones.  Where are the biggest and worst potholes located around the Garden State?

 

Use the form below to tell us about the craters on the Jersey roads to give a heads up to your fellow drivers and possibly save them the indignity of hitting one of these potholes. If you can do it safely, take a picture of the pothole too to add to our Pothole Hall of Shame.

NEW JERSEY'S POTHOLE HALL OF FAME:

 

Edison - Route 27  - "Many large potholes are clustered together on the curve before the Metro Park intersection. The potholes are deep, numerous, & very dangerous.
This area of Route 27 has been deteriorating rapidly over the past few weeks"

Long Valley - all along Bartley Road to our high school - " I just hit one of the numerous mega potholes on Bartley Road and destroyed two tires."

Union - Morris Avenue at Styvasant Road - "I wasn't going fast as I was about to make right hand turn. The pot hole was across the whole lane and pretty deep. Consequently I got two flat tires. The tires were destroyed completely and had to be replaced. It didn't look as if the town had even tried to fill it."


The New Jersey Department of Transportation said the extreme weather changes the state has experienced this winter has worn the road surfaces even more than usual. “Going through that cycle it tends to increase the size of those cracks and then eventually deteriorate the roadway,” said DOT spokesperson Steve Shapiro.

This year, the DOT has seven new pothole-filling machines that allow them to repair potholes more quickly and safely.  The machines are being used to enhance the traditional “throw and go” method of filling a pothole with temporary material until a more permanent fix can be made in the spring.

What Creates A Pothole?

So how do these bone-rattling, undercarriage destroying craters form?

New Jersey Fast Traffic's Bernie Wagenblasgt says the freeze-thaw cycle is to blame for the creation of potholes. "Melted snow and ice seeps into the cracks in roadways.  When the temperature drops the water freezes and when it does it expands.  When the it warms up the ice turns back to water.  The pothole develops in the void left over from the ice.  The pressure from traffic driving over the void causes the pavement to collapse, forming the pothole."

Wagenblast says they tend to form on roads with heavy truck traffic and on elevated roadways "since they freeze more easily than roads on a level surface."

How to Get a Pothole Repaired in New Jersey

Fill out the Department of Transportation's pot hole form to report a pot hole on a state road. Or, for a county road, call the appropriate number.

CountyPhone Number
Atlantic877.426.7623
Bergen201.646.2811
Burlington609.726.7300/609.265.5717
Cape May609.465.1035

Camden

856.566.2980
Cumberland856.453.2192
Essex973.239.3366 Extension 2220
Gloucester800.768.4653
Hudson201.915.1373 Extension 6975/78
Hunterdon908.788.1178
Mercer609.530.7510
Middlesex732.940.3800
Monmouth732.431.6550
Morris973.285.6763
Ocean732.929.2133
Passaic973.881.4500
Salem856.768.0453
Somerset908-541-5021
Sussex973.579.0430/973.579.0465
Union908.789.3660
Warren908.475.7984

 

Joe Cutter contributed to this report

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