With warm weather in Southwest Michigan this week, road crews have their work cut out for them patching potholes.

The Berrien County Road Department’s Adri Boone tells explained what happens during pothole season.

“When you see those warm days when you have snowmelt or rain, basically any new precipitation, it’s going to get into the smallest crack or even larger crevices,” Boone said. “When overnight those temperatures dip below freezing, essentially that water — originally liquid — will then freeze and expand into the ice form, and that will slowly over time create those small cracks into much larger potholes or other damages features to the roadway surface.”

Boone says the road department crews are out in force addressing the issue.

“With our various maintenance teams, they’re tasked with a variety of aspects, including pothole patching. So our crews will run, utilizing cold patch material as hot mix asphalt plants are not functional or operational right now. They do have to utilize cold patch material as a temporary patching fix on our paved surfaces. So our crews will work to prioritize those roads with the highest traffic to get those patched first, as they work to catch up through any of our network that have developed potholes or cracks over the winter and the frost cycle.”

Boone says cold patch is not the preferred method of addressing potholes, but until the asphalt plants are running again, it’s what’s crews are using. As a result, they may have to repatch potholes they’ve already covered.

Meanwhile, the road department asks drivers who see nasty potholes to report them to the road department.

“With those frost off cycles, potholes can develop overnight. We may have just patched a road and it is very possible that a pothole can develop literally right overnight, So, if you see something, please report it so we are aware of it. The community does help us have eyes in more places.”

Anyone can report potholes online or just call the Berrien County Road Department. Some old-fashioned types even come by in-person.

Boone tells drivers not to hold back from calling just because they assume someone else has reported an issue. The road department would rather get multiple calls about one pothole than not hear about it at all.