Icy weather deteriorating roads, carving out potholes

It's an inevitable consequence of wintry weather: potholes - gaping cavities in the road that can rattle teeth, jolt alignments and gobble up tires.

Hampton Roads has no shortage of them after two weekends of snow, freeze and thaw.

"It's the worst," said James Murray, a drywall contractor who is often on the road. "I've been trying to dodge them but it doesn't always work. I cuss every time I hit one. I know it's throwing my front- end alignment out, but I don't have time to stop."

State and city highway crews say they're busy filling the holes, but they can only go so fast and can fix only what they know about. They encourage drivers to alert them about trouble spots.

"We really need the help of motorists," said Lauren Hansen, Virginia Department of Transportation spokeswoman.

Patching by VDOT is prioritized by severity - some are done within 24 hours and most within four days. Generally, potholes are filled within 48 hours of receiving a report.

Heavier precipitation and colder-than-average temperatures this winter already started eroding the roadways, Hansen said. The recent snow only exacerbated the problems.

After this weekend's icy conditions, potholes are a problem on Interstate 264 between the downtown Norfolk area and the Interstate 64 interchange, especially near the Brambleton Avenue exit ramp, Hansen said.

Crews were out Sunday trying to patch as many potholes as they could before nightfall, Hansen said, so this morning's commute will be smooth.

Potholes form when moisture seeps into the pavement, freezes, expands and thaws. That cycle weakens the pavement so the weight of traffic causes it to crumble and fail.

The very weather that forms potholes also makes fixes short-lived and inadequate. Only cold-mix asphalt, which is considered temporary, can be applied in winter temperatures. Inevitably, these patches pop out of the pavement, taking the edges with them and leaving even bigger holes.

"We end up refilling over and over again," Hansen said.

Once temperatures remain consistently above 50 degrees, permanent repairs can be made using hot asphalt.

In South Hampton Roads, VDOT primarily handles potholes on the interstates through a maintenance contract. City public works departments are responsible for city roads.

Roads with high traffic volumes tend to have more potholes. Bridges and ramps, which get heavy doses of snow removal chemicals, are also more vulnerable.

Last week just after the snowstorm, Norfolk made a public appeal, asking motorists to report potholes.

In just two days, there were 45 phone calls, compared with 146 for the entire month of January, said Jim Checkovich, streets engineer.

Some local car repair shops are starting to see the effects of deteriorating roads.

Kyle Loftus, director of automotive services at AAA car care centers in Hampton Roads, said, "I've noticed a lot of damage to roadways around town."

However, he said the toll that takes on cars, especially alignments, won't be evident immediately.

"If the car's rolling, they're driving it," he said, especially because many parents had to take off work when schools closed and can't afford more time off to repair their cars.

Mark Mizelle, of Mizelle's Front End and Front Service, said he has had some customer complaints about pothole damage, but not a lot.

He figures people were slow to hit the roads again after the snow and that many with damaged vehicles get insurance companies involved before heading to the repair shop.

Firestone Complete Auto Care offered this advice to motorists:

Avoid braking during impact with a pothole. Instead, brake before impact and release the brake before contact. Less severe damage occurs when a tire is rolling, rather than skidding, over the pothole because there is no "solid hit" against the edge of the hole.

Despite his complaints, Murray said he understands budgets are stretched thin so pavement conditions are not ideal.

"It could be worse," he said. "I could be in Afghanistan, where the roads are rocks."

Pilot writer Jaedda Armstrong contributed to this report.

Debbie Messina, (757) 446-2588, debbie.messina@pilotonline.com