BY: JULIA BABCOCK, STAFF WRITER
Potholes have been emerging on nearly every road at St. Bonaventure University and the winding, pothole roads may make it challenging for students driving across campus. These potholes may have an impact on not just the quality of people’s driving experience, but on safety as well.
Jared Smith, director of facilities operations, said that the potholes are filled based on the weather.
“Potholes are always a challenge on all roadways in the Northeast, but we will certainly address the worst of them as the weather warms up on a consistent basis,” said Smith. “Unless [potholes] are really dangerous and in need of immediate attention, they can’t be repaired in a productive way until the temperature warms enough so the patch for the potholes adheres properly.”
Potholes have always been an issue, yet Bonaventure is actively putting effort into reducing the amount of potholes found around campus. The current weather on campus has not been ideal for fixing these potholes effectively, so some of the less dangerous potholes may stay in place until the weather warms up, said Smith
Facilities at Bonaventure want to wait until it is warm enough for these patches to dry. The deep potholes have been temporarily filled until lasing repairs can occur later in the spring.
“We have filled most of the worst ones with temporary fill until we can make more lasting repairs later in the spring, but the significant amount of rain we’ve had has made it a challenge to keep the fill from eroding,” said Smith
Griffin Irving, a sophomore psychology major, thinks potholes have gotten out of hand. Irving says he has had to change how he drives to try and avoid the most amount of potholes possible.
“The potholes on campus have gotten out of hand to the point where it is nearly unsafe to drive in some areas [behind the Riley Center] of campus due to their sheer size,” said Irving.
Some of the potholes are so big that Irving says he is scared for the safety of his car and for the safety of others who have to drive in those areas.
Mary-Quinn Mcnaughton, a sophomore English major, says she has even seen campus safety and security actively try to avoid these potholes.
“I have seen Safety and Security swerve to avoid potholes here, so why, as students, should we be forced to drive over them day after day?” said Mcnaughton.
Irving said he understood that potholes are bound to happen in winter, but the extent they are happening is too great.
“A few potholes are expected to come with the cold weather but not to this extent,” said Irving.
Irving and Mcnaughton have complained about the size of the potholes on campus.
“They’re huge, especially the ones outside Francis and in the parking lot entrances behind Murphy and Plassmann, and they’re going to do serious damage to someone’s car if not fixed soon,” said Mcnaughton
babcocjl23@bonaventure.edu
