Posted on 02/17/26
| News Source: WBAL
Baltimore, MD - Feb. 17, 2026 - Crews are working to fix potholes across the city, with several visible potholes Tuesday morning being repaired by the afternoon.
Still, drivers said they never know when a new one is going to pop up, so they’ve been taking it slow to prevent damage to their cars.
“It’s like a bump. You can hurt yourself. And if a woman is pregnant, she can have her baby before her time,” one woman said.
The 2026 pothole season has proven to be unforgiving, offering drivers with a variety of sizes to try to avoid on the road.
The dreaded car damagers can be seen across the city, including one on Interstate 83 North that’s down to the rebar.
There’s also the bare crater, which comes in all sizes and clusters.
“It’s like riding a wooden roller coaster. It’s just bump after bump after bump, all the way down Falls Road and all the way up Cold Spring (Lane),” said John Patterson, with Cromwell Tools.
Patterson said the potholes this year are “significantly worse,” than in previous years.
Data from the Maryland State Highway Administration shows that the issue is significantly worse this year, too.
From July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, the SHA patched 6,779 square yards of potholes. The agency has already surpassed that figure by nearly 200 yards, and it’s only February.
“And we’re not even in the heart of pothole season, so you can imagine it’s going to be a busy year for crews out in the highway,” said Charlie Gischlar, a spokesman for the SHA.
The potholes are new, but the cause is as old as time: the freeze-thaw cycle. The freeze part of the cycle also prevents crews from more permanent patches.
“We’ve had weeks of arctic temperatures, and now we’re starting to see temperatures come up. Now through the end of March is basically pothole season,” Gischlar said.
Anyone who notices a pothole that needs repair is asked to call 311.