County and Town Working to Make Fixes as Potholes Prevail in East Meadow

With erratic temperature fluctuations and large amounts of precipitation in the last few months, people driving around East Meadow have certainly experienced their car falling into one of the bumpy potholes covering many local streets.

The thawing and freezing effect, caused by quick changes between warm and cold temperatures, enables water to get into cracks in the road and expands underneath the asphalt to create those large street craters.

“This time of year is when it happens because of the way the moisture gets into the asphal--expanding and contracting because of the weather,” said Michael Martino, a spokesperson for the Nassau County Department of Public Works. “This year is not necessarily worse than others.”

Driving down many of East Meadow’s main thoroughfares, it is easy to spot major crevasses in the road surface. Side streets have also been increasingly plagued by this nuisance problem, especially where roads meet each other at intersections.

“It’s terrible this year,” said Kenny Kaufman, an East Meadow resident for 26 years. “With the up and down temperatures along with the snow and ice--it has ripped up our streets. A lot of the gas lines have been put in so there are a lot of creases for water to get in as the temperatures go up and down. It’s doubling the cracking of the streets. You don’t really get a smooth coating of asphalt and there are a lot of areas where the water can get in and do its damage.”

These holes can cause serious damage to cars ranging from minor costs to repairs that run hundreds of dollars. Bent rims, broken wheel bearings, blown-out tires and a thrown-off alignment are some of the most common problems potholes cause to personal vehicles.

“It’s worst than other years,” East Meadow resident Carol Corley said. “I think the town and state should be more proactive in reimbursing people for the damage to their cars from the potholes.”

According to the American Automotive Association (AAA), there are several ways to avoid pothole damage to your car, including keeping tires properly inflated, not tailgating and not hitting the brakes when you are traveling over a pothole. They also suggest scanning the road carefully when driving in order to attempt to avoid the hole.

As residents become discontent with the road conditions, both the Town of Hempstead and Nassau County are working quickly to remedy the pothole situation.

Town of Hempstead Press Secretary Susan Trenkle-Pokalsky explained that they received approximately 115 pothole complaints for the month of January.

“When the complaints come in the crew go out and fix them immediately,” she said. “We have 1200 miles of road so the crews can’t go down every road to check. When they get a complaint the crews usually check the surrounding area.”

Responsibility for repairing these problems is dependent upon whether the town or county takes care of that particular street. County roads in East Meadow include North Jerusalem Road, Carman Avenue, Front Street, Bellmore Avenue and Merrick Avenue, among others.

“Any call is responded to within 24 hours” Martino said. "Pothole repair happens everyday all of the time, year round. We’ve got a lot of them out there but we are responding to all of the calls. We have received a number of calls--many of the calls are for roads that are not county roads.”

To report a pothole to Nassau County, call (516) 571-6900 or email pothole_emergencies@nassaucountyny.gov.

According to the Town of Hempstead website, "Potholes should be reported directly to the Highway Department at 516-489-5000. Residents should provide the exact street address and the nearest cross street."

Editor's Note: Do you have potholes near your home in East Meadow? Take a photo and email it to Michael.Ganci@patch.com with the location to have your photo appear on Patch.