With this winter’s storms coming at unpredictable times and in large quantities, street maintenance has been difficult for the city of Champaign.

One of the city’s top priorities has become the repair of potholes. Since Dec. 29, the city has repaired over 946 potholes and averaging over two pothole repair requests per day.

Potholes are created by a combination of factors, including moisture, freeze-thaw action, traffic and poor base support.

“Potholes can be very serious and cause damage to the rim of someone’s car, so we’ve tried to be very proactive. I drive around looking for the bigger potholes and make note of them so we can fix them,” said Kyle Schneider, operations supervisor for Champaign’s Public Works Department.

Citizens are encouraged to report any potholes they see to the Public Works Department, and the city will make an effort to ensure it is fixed within two business days. Schneider said some of the areas with the most damage to them have been Green Street, around Fourth Street and the areas near construction.

“It’s been a lot of work, especially being understaffed this year, but we believe we have done a good job,” Schneider said.

However, Schneider does not believe this year’s road maintenance is much different than years past. Some residents of Champaign still think the city could do better to maintain the potholes.

“Some of the roads are really bad. They’ll fill them, and then three days later there are holes again,” said Craig O’Neill, Champaign resident.

Schneider added that the city is working on new equipment for potholes to provide better road maintenance.

“It is a very serious problem, and cities shouldn’t take the easy solution with just a roller and asphalt because in just three or four months it’ll be back,” said Zeeshan Kaba, vice president of Operations of Dr. Pothole, a company that provides a new infrared pothole repair service to the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. area.

Jamal Norwood, sophomore in DGS, said he has been involved in a pothole related accident in the past.

“The pothole was filled with water, so I didn’t see it. And I ran over it and cracked my camshaft,” Norwood said.

Matt Friedman, Chicago accident attorney, said people often do not realize the damage potholes can cause until they have an accident in result of one and have to pay “tons of money” to get their car fixed.

“Years ago, I handled a case were a car struck a pothole, and the person lost control and crossed the median to be struck head on and died,” Friedman said.