As our region emerges from a winter of record breaking snowfall and below average temperatures, the coming warmer weather surely will be welcomed by travelers everywhere.

But with the thawing pavement comes the inevitable emergence of potholes, eagerly waiting to mercilessly punish automobile alignments, shocks, transmissions and tires.

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and the Virginia Department of Transportation have launched a “Pothole Blitz”* to expedite pavement repairs throughout the Commonwealth.

To report a pothole, please click here. You can also call 1-800-367-ROAD (7623). The faster the problems are reported, the faster VDOT can get to them.

Our highways have been in a growing state of disrepair for some time. Winter’s wicked work made a bad situation even worse.
 
The total price tag for this effort is unknown, but two things are certain.

• First, the cost of the average pothole-induced auto repair is greater than the annual cost per driver of a 10-cent per gallon gas tax increase that would keep roads in better repair year round.

• Second, pothole repair costs will divert even more dollars from scheduled maintenance and construction projects.

*For more information on potholes and VDOT’s efforts to eliminate them, click here. The page includes an informative video on the “Pothole Killer” VDOT’s advanced maintenance truck that can fix up to 100 potholes a day using a quarter of the manpower of a typical team that can only fix 10 per day.