Potholes a part of spring’s bounty
They start blooming in winter. Underground, in the gaps in the earth, they are nursed by cycles of ice and thaw. And when they bloom, it’s downward, a swelling absence just under the pavement, waiting for the weight of a passing car to unseal them in all their glory.
They’re potholes.
And like early spring wildflowers, they are suddenly everywhere. Their impact is less on the eyes and more on the wallet.
“I’ve seen wheels broken, wheels actually broken from impact on a pothole. It’s pretty severe,” said Chad Weaver, manager at Hershey Tire in Staunton. The main damage he sees? “Certainly tire damage, impact damage to the tires as well as alignment issues.”
The demand for auto work due to pothole damage varies by season, with more in winter and spring. “That kind of wheel damage, I myself have experienced 3 cracked wheels over the past year. That’s just on my car.”
VDOT fills about 218,000 potholes statewide each year, according to Jenny O’Quinn of VDOT.
O’Quinn said repeated freeze-thaw cycles can lead to the formation of potholes, and encourages drivers to report potholes as they see them.
“The Customer Service Center relays requests to local VDOT residencies as they come in, and crews repair the potholes as soon as possible. Patching operations are prioritized by pothole severity and location. In many cases in the Staunton District, potholes are repaired within about 24 hours after being reported.”
The Staunton district is comprised of 11 counties, including Augusta. VDOT does not keep numbers of potholes fixed as a statistic by district.
Ruth Jones of the City of Staunton was able to give a ballpark figure for potholes fixed of “as many as 300 per year. We don’t track potholes per se, just tons of asphalt used in general asphalt repairs.”
Dwayne Schwartz of the city of Waynesboro chipped in his estimates: “Annually we put down somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,200 to 1,500 tons of asphalt specifically dedicated to pothole and utility cut patching.”
Jones also said that potholes can be fixed quickly if they are reported. “Depending on severity, the pothole can be fixed in as little time as one day or as much as three weeks. It depends on the weather and other work on the schedule.”
Road age and wear contribute to pothole formation, according to Schwartz. “Also, roadways that don’t qualify for VDOT funding often experience more potholes, as the amount of Non-VDOT funds available for repair of those roadways is very limited or even nonexistent in some fiscal years. Realistically speaking, anywhere there is a crack or a seam there is the potential for a pothole to form.”
It’s a constant effort to fill potholes quickly while retaining efficiency with the crews out doing scheduled maintenance.
Still, if drivers seem to see potholes in the same places, it doesn't always mean the pothole hasn't been treated. As Schwartz explains, “We have plenty of potholes that won’t go away regardless of the number of times we fix them. It’s the nature of a pothole-patch. Seams are present on all sides of the patch which allows water in, even if properly sealed.”
The funding issue is not a simple one. It's about statewide and even national infrastructure. “I often travel outside the city limits and see adverse conditions everywhere on interstate and in many other cities. It’s a nationwide epidemic of underfunded and crumbling infrastructure that we all inherited and are doing our best to revitalize.”
In spring, we’re often told to slow down and smell the flowers. Chad Weaver’s advice for potholes is somewhat similar — slow down.
“Avoid it if possible, but don’t avoid it if it could result in a wreck another way. Slow down if you know one is coming. If you’re going to hit it, slow down.”
The smelling part is, in the case of potholes, optional.
— Claire Cooper contributed to this story.