MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) - With the weather turning and summer on the horizon, it is pothole season in Wisconsin.

This year has been worse than others, with the Milwaukee Department of Public Works receiving over 5,000 pothole repair requests in the first three months of 2026.

The seven-year average for pothole requests in the first three months of the year for DPW is 3,041, compared to the 5,016 in 2026, a 65% jump.

“It’s nerve racking, it’s frustrating, I know DPW is very busy,” Milwaukee driver Maria Beltran said. “Property went up, taxes went up and I still have this pothole, like put my money to that.”

The demand for repairs is only going up, but with the weather turning more permanent fixes can be made.

“This winter was bad but especially last winter was brutal, we had such drastic freeze-thaw cycles all winter long and it was all winter long and it’s carrying over into this season,” Munson, Inc. Estimating and Project Manager Joe Krueger said.

Lisa Segal lives in Milwaukee and experienced first-hand the damage potholes can do to a car when she was driving down Lincoln Memorial Dr.

“I hit this bump in the road and immediately heard all of the air flying out of my tire,” Segal said. “You notice them but sometimes you don’t realize how big they are or how deep they are until you’re approaching it and by that time it’s way too late.”

As the rush to repair potholes across southeast Wisconsin continues, drivers are getting more impatient with each drive.

“I’m gonna come with a pile of dirt or little stones and fill it in myself,” Beltran said. “It needs to be fixed.”