Large pothole causes damage to nearly a dozen vehicles on Portland street

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- The Portland Bureau of Transportation says it's filled thousands of potholes since last month's winter storm.

However, hundreds of new potholes have recently popped up on Portland roadways.

On Thursday, nearly a dozen people had their cars damaged after hitting a major pothole.

The problem spot could be found in the middle of the road on Southeast Cesar Chavez Boulevard between Kelly and Tibbetts Street.

"I heard a really loud noise. My phone went flying across the car and I realized that I had hit a huge pothole," said SE Portland resident Lindsey Wunderfurn, who got a flat tire at the location. "There were at least 10 people with popped tires just when I was there."

The flat tire cost Wunderfurn nearly $200 in damages.

"We just had to put the spare on. And then we took it to a place near our house. And they did have to fully replace the tire because it bent the wheel," she said.

Multiple people driving in the area told KOIN 6 News a similar story.

("It was) the loudest noise I've ever heard in my car. And so I pulled over," said Portland resident Heather Beck. "My wheel was bent into a V shape and I had to call off work and work from home so definitely taking some damages financially."

Beck says she was shaken up by the incident.

"Just more anxiety trying to avoid lanes trying to be hyper-vigilant of my surroundings and just merging lane lanes constantly," she said.

PBOT has since covered the pothole on Cesar Chavez with a metal plate. They say potholes cause problems year-round, but after January's winter storm, they saw thousands pop up around the area.

"It's important for us to get those in the queue, get those reports out to us because we have almost 5000 lane miles of streets and we just simply can't be everywhere all at once," said Dylan Rivera from PBOT.

After reporting a trouble spot to PBOT, Rivera says to put in a claim with the city for damages. PBOT says they try to fill reported potholes within 30 days.

It costs an average of $300 to fill a single pothole and the extra work comes as the bureau is facing a $32 million shortfall.

"We really should have a new model for transportation funding in the long term that really increases the scale of what we're able to do in terms of preventive maintenance," Rivera said.

If you see a pothole report it by calling (503) 823-1700 or email pdxroads@portlandoregon.Gov.