SOUTH BEND — Potholes are keeping repair shops busy and drivers darting to avoid them. Ever since our January thaw began, potholes have popped up around the area. It's frustrating many drivers who are spending a lot of money to repair the damage they cause.

We don't normally see this kind of problem this early in the year. Drivers are used to dealing with them in the spring.

"What we're not accustomed to is the springtime temperatures in January,” said Indiana Toll Road Spokesman Matt Pierce.

The brief warm-up is exactly why potholes are popping up so early, making it a bumpy ride for drivers on the Toll Road, especially on one stretch in LaPorte County.

"The crews have been out since the rain subsided, working on it,” Pierce said. “They've got it temporarily patched and we're looking good."

Experts say potholes are created when water gets trapped underneath the pavement and freezes. That causes the road to expand.

"When that water thaws, when we have a thaw like we had at 65 degrees, it breaks those particular areas apart and then as the cars travel across them, they remove them and then the next car experiences the pothole,” Pierce explained.

With the potential to damage cars. And after 30 years in business, Nate Zolman, President of Zolman Tire, says this has been his busiest January on record.

"This morning it was crazy — had a lot of people coming in for tires and bent wheels and unfortunately ruined tires,” he said.

Repairing the damage doesn't come cheap. Drivers could pay up to $1,000, especially if the damage isn't fixed right away.

"This tire was going down the road on this part of the tire instead of the whole face,” he showed WSBT News. “So obviously you have steering problems, you have traction problems and you also have safety problems."

Because we've seen these potholes so early this year, officials say they don't think they'll get any worse this spring.

For information on how to report potholes and damage sustained from potholes, go to News Links.