Route 214: Pothole or Growing Sinkhole?

If you have to drive off the Mayo peninsula in the morning, you know about the pothole in the westbound lane, about a quarter of a mile from the Muddy Creek Road intersection.

Maybe "pothole" isn't the right word—"expanding sinkhole" might be a better description. 

Dave Buck, spokesman for the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA), said Monday that the large pothole in the 500 block of E. Central Ave. in Edgewater is a problem, one that SHA knows about.

"It's more than a pothole," Buck said in a telephone interview.

A Patch reader emailed to say that the hole is very treacherous, both in the morning and overnight when the small amount of water bubbling up into the roadway freezes and creates a slick of black ice.

Buck said that the SHA is aware of that problem, too, and is attempting to address it temporarily—for now.

Buck said that there are other issues preventing the SHA from moving quickly on a permanent repair. A tributary under that section of road is eroding the street. 

For that reason, SHA has to go to the Maryland Department of the Environment to get a permit. Buck said the agencies are working together to find a solution for the repair.

He added that the permit application has been completed.

For now, SHA is being proactive by having a "cold patch" put on the pothole once at night and once in the morning.

"We have a crew that checks on it. They go out with a shovel and put salt and chemicals on it," Buck said.

The salt and chemicals keep the road from freezing over and making a slick spot.

That is especially important these days because the Muddy Creek intersection outbound from Mayo is often backed up to that spot (or further back to Loch Haven Road). This means that many drivers have to brake there in the morning when cars are backed up at the light. 

Braking on an ice slick can mean "breaking" your front bumper when you slide over the ice and crash into the car in front of you (or you are hit by the person behind you).

It sounds like the repair won't be entirely painless for regular travelers on that route when the permit is issued because Buck said that workers will have to saw out that section of road to repair the culvert pipe and the structure of the road beneath it.

For now, drivers will need to exercise caution and good judgment when coming up on that section of road.