One mega pothole damaged several vehicles on Hwy 111

Debra Boucher won't soon forget the massive pothole that gobbled up her car's tires Monday night.

She was driving along Highway 111 in Dartmouth, N.S., near the Mic Mac Mall exit when it happened. It's a busy stretch of road with five lanes of traffic.

"Our car went over the huge, huge, massive hole. It jolted my whole car and my soul was jolted. It was scary," she said.

Boucher had two flat tires and may have sustained other damage. And she isn't alone.

Several vehicles were damaged after driving over that particular pothole that same night.

Bill Campbell, manager of Cheapy Tire, said he saw split tire rims.

"The damage on the rims is something we've never really seen before ... It had to be a deep pothole for it to do that, it must have went in pretty hard," Campbell said.

The problem was so intense, police were forced to redirect traffic for three hours Monday night.

Nova Scotia's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal anticipates it will receive a number of claims.

"On the weekend, we obviously had temperatures that were significantly below zero," said Mark Peachy, executive director of maintenance operations with the department. 

"And now we're at a stage where the temperature's on the plus side. And so the potholes are starting to manifest themselves quite quickly."

Boucher said she just wants safe roads to drive on.

"The highway isn't just a slow road where you are going 50," she said. "You're going 80 kilometres an hour and if someone hits that and loses control, it could take a life."