CT Ranks No. 9 for Pothole Complaints in the Nation

I live in Danbury, a medium sized city in Fairfield County, CT.

Get our free mobile app

I'm a professional big-mouth, a paid complainer as both a radio show co-host and a writer. If I've learned one thing in all my years in media, it's this, with the right amount of pressure, you can actually change things. You can make your community better, and it's hard to do, but you can make it worse.

I've decided to use my voice, my pressure on a topic that is not high on most people's priority list, potholes. I've written an obnoxious amount of repetitive articles about potholes and I'm not going to stop until I am forced to.

Every time I think I may let up, my car is eaten by a pothole created by Satan himself. Let's put it this way, if you live in Danbury and you drive, you're hitting multiple potholes each day, no matter the time of year. On the occasional slow traffic day, you might be able to avoid some potholes but only if you're willing to slalom around them by using the opposing lane of traffic.

Today I hit another pothole on my way home from work and went right to my laptop to get back to my sustained whine, and I stopped myself. I took a deep breath, and wondered if this is just me? Is the problem really what I make it out to be? Or am I simply the human equivalent of a screechy anus?

I needed to find out the truth and it didn't take me long. I may be an "A-hole" but this would not be the smoking-gun evidence for that. I found a report from Stacker published earlier this year.

The article says that CT ranks 9th in the nation for pothole complaints and they said that we have 12 pothole complaints for every 1,000 km of road in the Nutmeg State. In the published Stacker report, they added a tweet from a CT resident who wrote:

“My favorite Connecticut pastime is dodging potholes.”

The report also states that national transportation research nonprofit (TRIP) revealed that "40% of U.S. roadways—encompassing highways, arterials, and local roads—are in poor or mediocre condition." New York was 3 on the list, the most complaints in the nation came from Rhode Island, and the least came from Idaho.

How can this happen in the U.S of A? This nation was built on roads, we're a nation of explorers, looking for the next great place but we don't bother making the roads any good.

P.S. I won't stop until we are at the top of this list. Something must give, other than the frame of my vehicle. If you enjoyed reading this and wondered why I'd second-guess writing it, just check out some of the many articles I've already published on the topic.

Take a Look at Danbury's Behemoth Exit 5 On-Ramp Potholes

Awhile back, I promised the people of the great City of Danbury that I would create a pothole map and this is just one chapter, in the book of potholes.

When I began my pothole journey, I debuted with the potholes of West Street and they are some of the worst I’ve ever seen. I focused mainly on the area of West Street near the Citgo gas station. To the city's credit, they've already begin working on those, eliminating some of the biggest issues there.

Then I put a call out to the Ethan & Lou Radio Show listeners and asked for some tips. I was told to look at Shelter Rock Road so I did a report on those huge Earth holes.

I also examined the potholes on the South end of Main Street, and now we go to a very specific region, the North end of Main Street. I wanted to focus on the I-84 Exit 5 on-ramp. I enter the highway here everyday, on-my-way to work, and it's an atrocious mess.

These Potholes on West Street in Danbury Will Devour Your Car + Your Soul

Potholes are the bane of my existence and this is not a new issue to me. I’ve never been a person who has “good luck” with my vehicles and that has been reflected in a lifetime of car repair invoices. Below are some facts about potholes, along with a series of photos I took of potholes on West Street in Danbury.

Potholes Are a Problem on Main Street in Danbury, But They Might Be the Least of the Road's Issues

When I began my pothole journey, I debuted with the potholes of West Street and they are some of the worst I’ve ever seen. The area of West Street near the Citgo gas station, just after Division Street is a torturous little stretch of road, and where I took most of my photos. The next mission for me was Main Street and it took some doing.

I had to break it down into sections of road so I could safely access these potholes without being struck by a vehicle. To that end, I was forced to omit what I believe is the worst pothole area on Main Street, from the Danbury Police Station, down to the Mobil gas station. There was no good place to really park and I wasn’t walking the entire stretch of road this time of year.

I was impressed to learn certain stretches on Main, had no potholes and that is something you’d never guess if you traveled the road every day because it’s an extremely rough ride. Potholes are just part of the tapestry of the awful, jarring mess you will drive your car through. Main Street has tons of huge divots in the pavement, many manhole covers, train tracks, grooves and general chunks of road that seem to have gone missing and were replaced with pebbles. Then you have your double parked cars, aggressive drivers and illegal motorcycles to add to the layered, and anxiety laden experience. These are the potholes of Main Street in Danbury.

The Potholes on Danbury’s Shelter Rock Road are Devastating + Frustrating

Awhile back, I promised the people of the great City of Danbury that I would create a pothole map and this is just one chapter in the book of potholes.

When I began my pothole journey, I debuted with the potholes of West Street and they are some of the worst I’ve ever seen. I focused mainly on the area of West Street near the Citgo gas station. Next, it was Main Street where potholes mix with manhole covers and huge divots in the road, to create an unpleasant situation for your car’s front end.

Then I put a call out to the Ethan & Lou Radio Show listeners and asked for some tips. I wanted to hear from our listeners to find out where they think the problem areas are. I was told Hardscrabble was rough, someone suggested Woodbury Street and another told me to look at Shelter Rock Road. I chose to head off to Shelter Rock and put the others on the back burner for now.

Categories: Articles