Bump! Cringe. Hopefully don’t repeat. A few things to know about ‘pothole season’

The great interrupter of coffee sips and bane of tires everywhere.

Potholes.

It’s their season. And they’re in full bloom.

The city received 7,972 complaints of potholes in streets and alleys in January and February of this year.

The number is down about 45% from the same window last year that produced 14,484 complaints, but that doesn’t necessarily mean there are fewer actual potholes in Chicago.

The difference may simply be there are fewer drivers on the road to complain due to massive amounts of recent snow and because many people are still staying home due to the pandemic, acknowledged Chicago Department of Transportation spokesman Mike Claffey.

Regardless, CDOT crews are out in full force this week patching the pockmarks.

As many as 20 work crews during weekdays, fewer on weekends.

A few important things to know about potholes:

• To report a pothole go to the city’s dedicated webpage, https://311.chicago.gov/, or simply call 311.
• To see the location of pothole complaints, check out the city’s online pothole tracker at https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/cdot/dataset/potholetracker.html.
• To file a claim for reimbursement from the city for car damage caused by a pothole, visit City Clerk Anna M. Valencia’s website, https://www.chicityclerk.com/community-affairs/claims.
• To see a frequently asked pothole questions sheet compiled by CDOT, click here.