The Kansas Department of Transportation is trying to get rid of those pesky potholes that keep reappearing along U.S. 169 from 175th St. to the Johnson/Miami County line.
KDOT officials say it’s due to recent cold temperatures, which is further aggravating the deteriorating overlay surface on the roadway.
On Monday, the southbound lane of U.S. 169 from 175th St. to the Johnson/Miami County line had only one lane open so crews could do temporary fixes to the potholes.
The potholes are filled with a cold patch product, which is a solution that is just a short-term fix before it warms up.
Alan Heriford, owner of Johnson County Automotive, said hitting a pothole can damage your car.
“A lot of times some of the new wheels are aluminum,” Heriford said. “Alloy wheels, they bend, so literally it will bend the whole wheel and that'll cause a vibration.”
Heriford said that there are things to look for, like vibration in the steering wheel.
“That can be as simple as a balance problem. It could be worse like wheel being bent, or bad tire, or something like that," Heriford said. "Alignment issues, you know that’s another thing that will happen. Sometimes a big pothole can knock your car out of alignment.”
Heriford said it’ll cost about $15 to balance a tire, an alignment could cost you anywhere between $80 to $100, but said those are some of the simpler repairs.
“You start talking about replacing wheels and suspension parts, you could get several hundreds, up to thousands of dollars of damage if it's severe enough of an impact to bend some of the more serious suspension components," Heriford said.
KDOT officials say once temperatures get to at least 50 degrees, crews will lay down a more permanent fix for the potholes.
On Tuesday, be on the lookout if you're heading northbound on U.S. 169 from the Johnson/Miami County line to 175th St.
There will only be one lane open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. as crews do a short-term fix on the potholes.
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Rae Daniel can be reached at Rae.Daniel@KSHB.com.
