With a Harsh Winter, Plows and Freezing Cause Road Damage in the Village of Southampton

The Southampton Village Highway Department, charged with filling in potholes and plowing streets, is trying to keep up with a winter that has brought severe storm after severe storm.

While what seemed like a constant onslaught of snow and ice on the East End has died down, its effects remain. Roads heaved from freezing and broke apart, causing potholes to erupt into dangerous tire traps.

Al Whitby, the co-owner of , said tire blowouts usually increase five fold during the winter, jumping from 1 percent of tire changes at his business to about 5 percent. According to Whitby, this winter has been no different.

Snowplowing can add to the road damage, as plow blades scrape streets and curbs.

Village Trustee Rich Yastrzemski, who oversees the highway department, said curb damage can be blamed on both village plows and private plows.

Superintendent of Gary Goleski explained that if a snowplow hits a manhole cover, that could cause road damage as well. But he said that village potholes are “more from freezing than the plowing.”

Both Yastrzemski and Goleski admitted the village had a difficult time plowing a couple of storms ago. Goleski said, “we had a storm mixed with ice,” and most village plows had rubber blades that were effective in snow but not ice. Now the highway department has invested in steel-blade plows, which are better for ice, he said.

Goleski said the highway department patches all of the roads during the winter, as potholes and road damage occur. “As of now, we have trucks that are out there that go around and find the potholes and fill them in.”

Yastrzemski said there haven’t been any roads in the village that have sustained major damage this winter. “I haven’t seen or been informed of any roads that are a complete disaster,” he said. When comparing the roads in the village to other villages he said, comparatively, “we are usually as good or better than our neighbors.” 

To gain a complete assessment of the roads Yastrzemski said the highway department has to wait until the spring when everything thaws.

"We have a lot of new roads paved," he said. "Has the winter been worse? Yes. Has it affected the roads more? I can’t say.”

The village is working on the annual budget now and will plan a paving schedule. That budget should cover any major road damage. Although, in the past the village highway department has had trouble paving all the roads the department has wanted to pave due to budgetary restraints.