Florida Has One Of The Worst Cities For Potholes
Nothing can ruin your drive quicker than a pothole. We’ve all thought it after the huge THUMP. “Please don’t let my car be damaged.” I understood living in a colder climate how potholes could be a problem, but why are they such an issue in Florida? There are not one, but two Florida cities in the top 10 on the list.
Searches for potholes increased by 107% between 2019 to 2022. The team at Circuit used Google Trends search data and surveyed 1,000 drivers and 127 delivery drivers to get a better look at America’s pothole problem. Somehow, Florida had among the most cities ranked in the top 20. Before we get to the list, here’s an interesting stat.
-
GMC, Subaru, and Ram drivers were the most likely to hit potholes, while Toyota, Hyundai, and Volkswagen drivers were the most likely to avoid them.
So, using Google Trends search data to identify which US cities conducted the most pothole-related searches, who comes out on top? St. Louis. Even their local news stations were reporting on the deteriorating road conditions. But they have winter there, and snow plows and such. What about Florida? Number 2 on the list is Orlando. ClickOrlando explains how the potholes form here in the Sunshine State.
“Potholes form starting with cracks in the asphalt. Then rain eventually seeps into the cracks which creates gaps. That’s when the asphalt begins to break up as vehicles drive over it. It gets weaker and weaker until it breaks apart, and just like that, a pothole forms.”
With thousands of people moving to Florida every year there’s just a lot more cars on the road. Even in smaller Florida cities like Fort Myers and Naples there’s been a tremendous increase in traffic on the roads.
Third on the potholes list is Minneapolis, followed by Cincinnati, Buffalo, St. Paul, Arlington, and Pittsburgh.
Potholes are a problem in Florida.
Number 9 on the top 20 list is Tampa. Potholes are becoming an increasing problem in Tampa. And it doesn’t look to be improving. According to WFLA “The average street in Tampa, under the current budget, is only repaved once every 75 years.”
At number 10 is Atlanta, followed by Cleveland, and Honolulu. Miami is number 13 on the pothole list. But they are working on it. Miami launched a “Potholepalooza pilot program” earlier this year. If you see a pothole, call 311. It’s that simple. The full list and methodology is here.