Potholes shut down two lanes on the Inner Loop of the Beltway during the Tuesday morning commute for quick cold patch repairs, but there's still plenty of broken roadway that will damage a vehicle if you are not paying attention.
Mario Lobos is a mechanic technician at the Beltway Car Care auto shop on Georgia Avenue and says potholes are a serious threat to everyone.
Lobos says a tire actually exploded after it hit a Beltway pothole so hard. In his more than 20 years working with vehicles, Lobos says he's never seen anything like it happen.
The most unusual thing about it? That tire is his. Not even the man who normally fixes pothole wrecks could avoid a run-in with one!
"It blew so hard. It was scary. It went off like a little bomb going off, boom," Lobos said. "You can't tell when it's wet, you about to hit, you can't tell."
That's why Lobos says he felt the pain passing by those Inner Loop Beltway drivers Tuesday morning. The stretch of the Beltway that was closed is between Connecticut and Georgia Avenues.
"Like around 6:30 [this morning]. I saw like eight cars on 495. They were like on the side," said Lobos describing some of the damage he quickly recognized.
The Maryland State Highway Administration made quick repairs, but a spokesperson told WUSA9 over the phone, they really couldn't do much more at the time because cold patches don't stick in the rain.
WUSA9 viewers on Twitter showed us the problem in that stretch is not exactly new. Google Map images of the same stretch in November 2015 show significant pothole damage as well. The overnight and early morning weather certainly did not help.
"The freeze-thaw and you get moisture in there and the traffic gets in there and it opens up a hole," said MSHA Spokesperson Charlie Gischler, reminding travelers this is prime pothole season.
Gischler tells WUSA 9 the good news is the "windy" stretch of the Beltway near Tuesday's problematic area, is up for resurfacing this year. The bad news, that's not expected to happen until late spring.
More potholes will open before then and officials need you to report it. The sooner a pothole is reported, the faster they can resolve the problem, hopefully. You can report potholes on the Beltway in Maryland (or any other numbered highway in the state) by calling MSHA at 301-513-7300 or clicking this link.
Lobos says he's just grateful he only had to replace one tire. Others may not be as lucky.
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