If it seems like potholes are worse this year, it's because they are. The North Carolina Department of Transportation had 10,862 potholes reported in 2017. This year to date, drivers have already reported 10,307. It's the same story in Winston-Salem. In January through the end of April this year, its CityLink service received 489 concerns regarding potholes. For the same period in 2017, the number of concerns was just 346. Both entities attribute the increase to an intense winter with several freezes and thaws.