Bradford resident tells council pothole on East Main cost $1,400, asks for reporting hotline

Candy Barcoma Muil, a Bradford resident, told the Bradford City Council during public comment that a pothole on East Main Street on March 2 damaged her car and forced her to buy four new tires at a cost of $1,400.

"I hit a pothole which popped 1 tire and bulged the other. And then I had to end up buying 4 tires, which cost me $1,400," Muil said, giving her address as 1309 East Main Street.

Muil urged the council to establish a city-run hotline or reporting mechanism so residents can report hazardous potholes. "Somehow there should be somewhere, like, there's a hotline that somebody that people could call and say this is a bad pothole or whatever," she said.

A city official replied that PennDOT maintains a reporting line but that the city does not have a similar hotline. On the question of a traffic ticket Muil said she received after stopping in the street, a staff member told her the police department cannot legally forgive traffic citations. "We have no influence over or ticket forgiveness. That'd be illegal," the staff member said, and offered to speak with Muil after the meeting.

Muil also said wet conditions and the event's timing contributed to the incident; she said she does not believe she can pay the associated citation. She asked the council to consider ways for residents to report dangerous roadway conditions in the future so repairs or warnings can be accelerated.

The remarks came during the meeting's public comment period and did not produce a formal council action on pothole reporting during the session.