Muncie is not alone.
After a long, snowy winter, roads coast to coast are riddled with potholes. Concerned about highway safety, some governors are declaring "pothole emergencies," the Seattle Times reported last Wednesday.
"Our chief engineer say it's the worst pothole season since the late 1970s," Linda South, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Transportation, said in the report. Virginia alone has filled 95,000 potholes in the past two weeks.
Virginia, like Muncie, is stuck in a budget crunch. To repair the potholes, Virginia state officials are letting roadside grass go unattended.
In Brooklyn, a motorist found "the mother of all potholes" -- 3 feet deep and the size of a car. The city has since filled the hole. New York's Department of Transportation has repaired more than 100,000 potholes during the last nine months, according to the report.
This isn't just a phenomenon in areas surprised by a rough winter. According to the report, even suburban Minneapolis, Minn., residents are complaining. But for Muncie residents and students, the situation always seems worse.
In March, Muncie street commissioner Mike Winkle told the Daily News that it costs $45 to mix one ton of "cold patch," which is used in cold weather as a temporary fix for potholes.
"This is absolutely the second-worst winter in history behind the blizzard of 1978," Winkle said in a Star-Press report in March, echoing the sentiments of Virginia's chief engineer.
Thursday, Sam Marshall, a supervisor for the Muncie Street Department, told the Daily News in a phone interview the street department is currently using a hot mix. Marshall said the mix is a more permanent solution compared to the cold patch.
Marshall said the street department was spending an estimated $1,900 per day on labor and materials. Street department officials estimated the amount spent on materials alone to fall between $700 and $800.
The department is working overtime to keep up with repairs by adding three hours to some weekdays and working a full eight hours on Saturdays, Marshall said.
Muncie may not be alone in its pothole struggle, but it is clearly taking great strides to overcome the problem.
Residents and students alike should be patient, for repairs are underway.
Also, both should take comfort in the fact that Muncie does not have "the mother of all potholes."
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