PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — It’s been a mild winter, but that doesn’t mean there have been fewer potholes to fill. In fact, the warmer temperatures are actually helping crews make more permanent repairs on the roads.
That's why PennDOT Crews will spend the week of Feb. 27 – weather pending – filling potholes on 40 state highways in Bucks, Delaware, Chester, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. Drivers are being advised to expect intermittent lane closures and possible slowdowns when driving near work crews.
“Just slow down when you see an active crew out there working and stay off your phones and avoid distracted driving just to keep everyone safe,” said PennDOT’s Robyn Briggs.
She explained that the rapid freeze-thaw cycle in the winter months causes water to seep through any little crack in the pavement, forming potholes.
“...That constant freezing and then thawing when it freezes again, it’s lifting the pavement up a little bit, and then when it thaws and a tire or something drives over it, it creates a cavity in the pavement, so that is where we get our potholes from.”
She said, usually in cold weather, if there’s an emergency and a pothole needs to be fixed, they can use what is called a cold patch, but that is temporary. Once the temperature gets higher than 42 degrees, they can go and fill it back in with a “hot mix.”
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Briggs said they’ve been able to use the permanent hot asphalt mix this winter to fill the holes because temperatures have been agreeing with us.
Briggs says, over the past two months, more than 1,000 tons of material have been utilized for pothole repairs across the region.
She said, compared to last year, they’re using roughly the same amount of material.
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“Last year, we used over 22,000 tons of material for the whole year and we used around roughly 8 million dollars for the whole year, so I think we are heading towards that same kind of number [this year], but we’ll know by the end of the year.”
A full list of areas impacted by the pothole repairs can be found on PennDOT’s website.
If you discover a bump in a state highway, PennDOT says they want to hear from you. To contact them, call 800-FIX-ROAD or submit a concern on their website.