City and state maintenance crews took advantage of the break in the weather Tuesday to fix bothersome potholes on some of Santa Fe's busiest roads.

A crew from the Santa Fe Highway Maintenance Patrol, part of the New Mexico Department of Transportation, was sent out to provide emergency repairs for some of the larger potholes on Cerrillos Road, St. Francis Drive, and St. Michael's Drive, said NMDOT spokeswoman Karyn Lujan. Weather permitting, work will continue in those areas today and throughout the week, she said.

"Ideally, you'd like it to be sunny and everything would be dry and it would be like that for a few days," said NMDOT District 5 engineer Miguel Gabaldon. "But we haven't had that kind of weather lately."

Because of the amount of moisture in the ground, the state crew focused on temporary repairs that can last anywhere from a few days to months. If there is more heavy snowfall, however, those potholes might pop up again, Lujan said.

"It's an ongoing effort that we're dealing with," Gabaldon said. "We know that they're out there, and our crews are working on them regularly."

City crews took more permanent measures to smooth out bumpy streets.

The city's streets division filled more than 30 potholes with hot asphalt mix, used for permanent repairs, in areas including Siringo Road, Guadalupe Street and the bridge over the Santa Fe River at Guadalupe Street.

Crews ran out of materials to continue the repairs Tuesday and will resume work today, said Sevastian Gurule, division director for constituent services.

Since the beginning of this year, the city has fielded 85 complaints regarding potholes. Most of them concerned Cerrillos Road and St. Francis and St. Michael's drives, which are maintained by the state, Gurule said.

Potholes can cause damage to a vehicle's struts and shocks and cause uneven tire wear, according to a news release from AAA.

Potholes can be reported by calling the city's streets division customer-service line at 955-2411, the constituent services hot line at 955-6949 or the state's District 5 hot line at 827-9500.

Contact Veronica Cruz at 986-3042 or vcruz@sfnewmexican.com.