The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has activated for the District 2-0 Region a pothole hotline, a toll-free telephone service for public use in reporting potholes.

The hotline number is 1-800-252-3549. Calls can be made Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. until April 7.

Callers should be specific in citing the location of the pothole and should include when reporting the potholes: the traffic/state route number and local name of the road, the borough, township or city and any landmarks in the vicinity of the pothole.

"We take calls for any locations within the nine counties in the Engineering District 2-0 Area," explained PennDOT Spokeswoman Lugene Keys.

This area includes Centre, Clinton, Clearfield, Elk, McKean, Mifflin, Juniata and Potter counties.

In a news release Keys said, "In addition to our routine maintenance schedules, the department has found that through information received from the pothole hotline calls we have been able to address problem areas that may not have been targeted by our maintenance offices."

She added that hotline calls are recorded and referred to the appropriate county maintenance offices on a daily basis. Potholes, if not already fixed, are repaired as soon as the work can be scheduled, Keys said.

"It's a special service to the public," Keys said. "It's a really special project to work with the public and take care of these kind of matters."

Some area residents have expressed views commending the service.

Assistant Director of HUB Programs Dave Grebos said, "I've not noticed that there are any major holes. It's not something I really pay attention to. If you do have some (potholes) on your street having someone to tell it about is valuable."

Others, though, have not seen major problems with the roads and do not see the significance of the hotline. Tom Miles (sophomore-division of undergraduate studies) said, "The county spends so much money on road work anyway there aren't that many problems."

Funding for reparation of the roads, Keys noted, is figured into each county's yearly routine maintenance budget.