Lubbock, Texas: Land Of A Thousand Potholes

**DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this open letter are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Townsquare Media.**

Picture it. I'm on my work at 5 a.m. I had to get over to the southbound lane at the intersection of Loop 289 and Quaker Avenue. Because of the rain, I did not see the pothole that everyone knows to avoid.

If you have ever turned onto Quaker Avenue from Loop 289 then you know the exact pothole I'm talking about.

Mikael, how do you miss that pothole? You may ask.....WELL...I tried to curve around it, but it was filled with rainwater. The pothole was disguised as road. It was unseen.

Back to the story. I hit that Pothole (with a capital P) so hard my vehicle shook, the radio station changed, and my teeth rattled in my head. I thought I wrecked my car, and tried to turn onto Quaker Avenue. Keyword here is tried.

A Warrior Wounded

My car was struggling like a dying wildebeest in the middle of the road. I managed to pull into a nearby parking lot and called work to let them know I would be a smidge delayed. To make a long story short-ish, I didn't see any damage and was able to start the car up just fine a few moments later.

I took it to McGavock Nissan later in the day to be on the safe side. Boyyyyyyy let me tell you.

That menace of a Pothole the lurks on a public roadway was so deep it threw my right tire out of alignment, damaged the fuel injectors, and I now needed a brake flush. I just bought my car in August and it was inspected by the dealership--these are not pre-existing problems.

A Call To Arms Against All Potholes in Lubbock

So what the heck, Lubbock? I know I'm not alone. I know that every citizen of this dusty city has been personally victimized by a rabid pothole--if not the Pothole.

Think I'm being dramatic? Try again. I casually mentioned that "that Pothole off the Loop and Quaker" to a few random people throughout the day.... and they all knew exactly which Pothole I was talking about.

One person said they've reported that Pothole to the city multiple times over several months and....nothing! Will that Pothole ever be filled? Will the health and safety of citizens of Lubbock be someday spared the horrors of that Pothole? Or will the Pothole's reign of terror march on?

I regret to inform you that I now have a personal vendetta against that Pothole because it owes me $448. Read it again.

I returned to the scene of where my villain story began--to take a picture for this rant--guess what? The City of Lubbock has closed off the area around the Pothole.

GEE I WONDER WHY? Could it be? Could it very well be that other fine citizens have been violated by the bottomless abyss that is The Pothole? I do think this is the case!

Let's Do Something About The Potholes Before They Do Something About Us

That Pothole is very much a safety hazard to vehicles. The rain did not help. And I feel safe assuming that all the potholes across this fair city have grown a little bigger as of late. So..... If you would like to report that pothole, or any potholes in Lubbock, you can do that here.

Let us know where the worst potholes in Lubbock are so we can all mass report them and help out the community in the end before the weather makes them worse.