Throughout harsh winter, Lawrence city crews have patched more than 10,000 potholes

If Lawrence motorists feel like they’re hitting more potholes — or swerving to avoid more of them — they may be right.

So far this year, city road crews have had to patch more than 10,000 potholes. City officials say that because of the amount of snowfall this winter, the city has patched almost as many potholes in the first three months of the year as it did in all of 2018.

Municipal Services and Operations Deputy Director Mike Lawless said the harsher-than-usual winter, particularly compared with recent years, has been hard on the roads.

“We’ve had more snow this year than the last three winters combined, so that certainly plays into it,” Lawless said.

Specifically, Lawless said the city has patched 10,630 potholes so far this year compared to about 11,000 potholes patched in 2018. He said that number does not represent the number of unique potholes in Lawrence, as some potholes have needed to be patched more than once.