Gov. Bob McDonnell said yesterday that more than 150,000 potholes were filled during a six-week "pothole blitz," but he acknowledged that potholes remain on Virginia's highways.
McDonnell said the Virginia Department of Transportation will shift its attention from temporary patching of the winter-ravaged roadways to full paving operations.
With warmer temperatures, asphalt plants are reopening and permanent concrete patches are possible, he said.
He said more than $134 million in paving projects have been contracted for, with an additional $84 million in projects being advertised statewide.
McDonnell declared the pothole blitz at the beginning of March, then extended it because of cold weather.
"It's probably the worst year I've seen for pavement failures on major roadways around the Richmond area" in 34 years with the highway agency, said Richmond District Administrator Tom Hawthorne.
The state's effort cost $4.1 million, according to VDOT spokesman Jeff Caldwell, and repaired 155,525 pavement failures in Virginia's 57,867 miles of state-maintained roadways.
"We know that there are still potholes forming," Caldwell said, "and we'll fix those as they're reported."
The state's largest travel group applauded the governor's prompt action.
"So many of the potholes have become so deep that they really were more than a motorist inconvenience," said AAA Mid-Atlantic's Martha Mitchell Meade. "The issue became one of public safety. When I hit them, it hit hard."
AAA has nearly 1.2 million members in Virginia.
Smoother pavement is on the way.
VDOT's Richmond District has $99 million in paving work under way now or starting this summer, Hawthorne said.
The centerpiece for metro Richmond is the $35.1 million resurfacing of brutally potholed Interstate 64 between Interstate 95's Bryan Park interchange and Parham Road in Henrico County.
Under the high-priority contract, Branscome Inc. of Williamsburg is repaving 5.5 aging miles of I-64 and more than 35 ramps. The job is scheduled to be finished Nov. 15. That section of the interstate was built in the 1960s and handles about 140,000 vehicles per day.
Virginia's potholes have been equal-opportunity offenders.
Commonwealth Transportation Board member Gerald P. McCarthy of Richmond and VDOT Chief Engineer Malcolm T. Kerley both have blown tires on highway potholes.
And, said Hawthorne, "I ruined a tire.
"That cost me $250."
Contact Tyler Whitley at (804) 649-6780 or twhitley@timesdispatch.com.
Contact Peter Bacqué at (804) 649-6813 or pbacque@timesdispatch.com.
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