A string of tire problems reportedly occurring over the last
week in the construction zone of U.S. Route 219 in Bradford are
leaving some area residents feeling a little flat.

Gifford resident Gordon Kahle reported what he believed to be a
large number of flat tires in the construction zone. Kahle travels
back and forth to Olean, N.Y., to his job. On Monday, he saw three
cars with flat tires on the side of the road in the construction
area.

Wednesday night, on his way home from work, he also had a tire
go flat and had to pull off just before the Owens Way exit. He said
the tire, which was virtually new with less than 5,000 miles on it,
had a gash about 1 1/2-inches long.

Kahle said a serviceman from Dexter’s Service and Collision who
changed his tire said that he had been called to change three other
flat tires in that area. Kahle noted this would make at least seven
flat tires in the construction zone in about a week.

A serviceman at Dexter’s contacted Friday said he wasn’t aware
of the problem, and no one else was available to comment.

Marla Fannin, community relations coordinator for District 2 of
the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, said she was aware
of only one complaint regarding a flat tire in the construction
zone, and that the incident was reported Thursday.

Kahle said he did not call PennDOT to report his incident. He
went on to say, however, that in addition to the serviceman at
Dexter’s, he had also been in contact with a representative from
Mascaro Construction Co. and the state police regarding the
matter.

Fannin said there’s nothing in the construction area that would
cause flat tires, but added tires could pick up “odd pieces of
debris” that could puncture the tires at any point in the road.
Drivers may not realize they have a flat until they reach the
construction area, she said.

Kahle said Friday he does not believe it was debris from outside
the construction zone that caused his flat tire or the sizable gash
in the tire. He said he started into the construction zone just
past the Elm Street on-ramp southbound when he heard a rumble that
caused him to pull over just before the Owens Way exit.

“I could have never driven very far with a cut like that in the
tire,” Kahle said.

A serviceman at Sehman’s Tire Service in Bradford said they
haven’t had any more flat tires than normal. He said if a tire goes
flat, it’s going to make a slapping sound. If the tire’s low and
not all the way flat, the car might pull or there might be other
indications that the tire is low. He said a driver would most
likely become aware of a flat tire as soon as it happened.

A serviceman at Firestone Tire and Service Centers in Bradford
said they get a couple flat tires in each day, which is average for
them. He said it might be possible that a tire could pick something
up, and the driver would not notice it until a certain area in the
road, like the construction zone.

Fannin said if someone gets a flat tire in the construction area
on Route 219 and believes it may have been caused by something due
to the construction, they may call a couple of different places,
the first of which being the District 2 PennDOT office. Motorists
could also try calling the project office in Bradford or the county
maintenance office for PennDOT.

“Every situation is different,” Fannin said when asked if
PennDOT would reimburse those that do get a flat tire in the
construction area. “If someone reports a problem, we’ll certainly
take the information and do whatever investigation needs to be done
to determine whether or not that incident was associated with the
construction zone. We have a process a customer can go
through.”