As drivers head eastbound into Muncie on McGalliard Road, they are greeted with a warning.
"Pothole City."
That message is posted on a Big-O Tires sign and encourages passers-by to come in for a free alignment check. While the message may seem humorous, some students are saying the pothole problem in Muncie is not a laughing matter.
"It's like they are testing land mines out there," freshman Matt Burke said, referring to Neely Avenue.
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Potholes begin after snow or rain seeps beneath pavement and the road's gravel sub-base, leaking into the soil below the pavement surface.
The moisture freezes when the temper-ature drops below 32 degrees. This causes the ground to expand, rise and push up the pavement.
As tempera-tures rise, the ground returns to normal level before pave-ment does, creating a pocket-like cavity between the ground and pavement.
When cars and trucks drive over the cavity, the surface cracks and falls into the hollow space, creating a pothole that could be hazardous.
A routine drive down Neely or New York avenues has turned into an adventure. Automobiles swerve left, right and left again avoiding potholes like a stunt driver.
It may seem like the city is taking no initiative to fix the deteriorating roads, but Mike Winkle, Muncie's street commissioner, said three crews are out daily making repairs.
"All the major roads and secondary roads are the big problems," Winkle said. "We don't even worry about the neighborhoods until we take care of major thoroughfares."
Winkle said "major thoroughfares" near Ball State include Neely, New York, Riverside, University and McKinley avenues.
Many students have gotten flat tires after hitting potholes, others are simply fed up with the condition of the roads.
"I haven't gotten any damage, just a lot of headaches," freshman Matthew McClain said. "They're atrocious."
Students see potholes as a major problem, but they aren't alone. Potholes are also a problem for the city. In short, potholes are expensive.
Winkle said road crews temporarily fill potholes with a "cold patch." Permanent repair cannot take place until spring. It costs $45 to mix one ton of cold patch. Winkle said the city goes through four to six tons per crew per day.
That means the city is spending nearly $700 a day for materials alone. The city, and ultimately the taxpayers, also pay for the labor.
That is not the only expense the city incurs, though. If a car is damaged on a pothole, the owner can file a claim with the city clerk's office.
Chrissy Dorer, the deputy clerk of Muncie, said a tort claim must have either two repair estimates or a repair bill. They then pass the claim on to the city's insurance carrier. Dorer said each claim is for at least $50, oftentimes more.
Dorer said she has handled between 10 and 20 claims, but she isn't the only one in the clerk's office taking claims.
Winkle says he gets 30 reports of potholes per day, a huge increase from the norm.
But the woes could go away this spring. The Muncie Board of Public Works and Safety awarded a $578,425 contract to E&B Paving to pave 25 streets this summer.
Streets near campus that will be paved include New York, Centennial and Beachwood avenues.
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