Local motorists blame I-95 construction project for costly tire damage

PHILADELPHIA - With the heat comes car issues and a lot of construction that can do some real damage to your tires and wheels.Several motorists reach out to FOX 29 recently about damage to their car from a project on I-95 near Woodhaven and Academy roads.Kevin Millevoi, from Millevoi’s Tire and Automotive, says he gets about three cars a day with tire and wheel damage from roads in the area."More flat tires this year than I think any other year in the past," Millevio said. "The potholes are bigger and deeper and there are more of them out there."The sound of summer for many motorists is a clunk that means a trip to the mechanic.Samir Whiting is looking at a $380 repair after he said his tire went flat on I-95."Due to the construction on I-95 it’s causing a lot of tire damage to a lot of the citizens of Philadelphia," Whiting said.He said several people were in the same shop this morning with damage to their cars."Some of the other tires they were cars, I have an SUV," Whiting said.  "My tire wasn’t as bad theirs, but it could have been worse if I rode on it a little longer."MORE LOCAL HEADLINESMillevoi said the salt wears away at the roads, and you can mess your car up pretty quickly driving on an uneven highway."They get that drop in the asphalt 2-3 inches you really gotta be careful going over that," Millevoi said. "That alone will cause you to have a bent wheel."The best advice he and PENNDOT can give is to slow down.If you get a flat don’t drive on it and use your spare — sparingly.More bad news: Getting repairs is more expensive than ever because of supply chain shortage."The bigger problem is availability," Millevoi said. "We can’t get the wheels as readily available as we could.