See a Pothole in Reston? Here's What You Can Do to Get It Fixed

In a few short weeks, road crews have filled more than 10,000 potholes across Northern Virginia. While patching continues full-force through the spring, there’s more good news in store: Next month, the Virginia Department of Transportation kicks off $168 million worth of paving to further improve roads and rides for drivers across the region.

“This is the largest paving season we’ve seen in northern Virginia,” said Branco Vlacich, VDOT’s district maintenance engineer. “We estimate crews will place about one million tons of asphalt and four million linear feet of pavement markings this spring.”

Paving plan

The $168 million in paving across northern Virginia includes 31 lane miles of interstates, almost 50 lane miles of primary routes as well as extensive paving on secondary roads and neighborhood streets of almost 1,000 lane miles. Crews are also extending the life of more than 110 lane miles with preventative maintenance such as latex and sealing.

See roads scheduled for paving statewide at www.virginiaroads.org.

Pothole update

Crews continue patching across northern Virginia, only deviating to take care of other emergencies such as downed trees and flooding.

Drivers are asked to continue to be alert to lane closures for patching. Crews in northern Virginia hit the road from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekdays, and may work other times outside of rush hours.

To patch, crews are using “cold” and “hot” mix asphalt, with both mechanized and hand work where needed to address problem areas.

Drivers may be familiar with the contracted “pothole killers” that shoot a temporary asphalt patch. In northern Virginia, VDOT also owns two “Python 5000s,” that actually make a permanent patch with a scraper and roller in about two minutes. There are only a handful of Pythons in use in the United States, with about thirty total in operation.

Crews are also increasingly using Aquaphalt, a fast-drying material that creates a durable permanent patch.

Resources

Report potholes online (http://www.virginiadot.org/travel/citizen.asp) or to operators 24/7 at VDOT’s Customer Service Center at 800–FOR-ROAD (367-7623). TTY users, call 711. Crews in northern Virginia patch roads in Fairfax, Prince William and Loudoun counties. If the pothole is in a city, town, or Arlington County, please call the public works department in that location.

How potholes form, safe driving tips, pothole-patching videos and other information: http://www.virginiadot.org/info/faq-potholes.asp

PHOTO of pothole from Patch archive