Pothole repair season underway in South Jersey and Philadelphia
LAWNSIDE, N.J. (CBS) -- It's pothole season in the northeast, and as springtime nears, efforts to fix the holes ramp up.
In South Jersey, drivers are doing their best to swerve away from the issue.
"I experience them every day on my way to work," Paige Landgraf from Collingswood said. "I've actually had to get new tires recently because of issues that I had."
On Tuesday morning, the New Jersey Department of Transportation was smoothing over the situation in Lawnside.
"We're going to take care of this stretch of Route 30 this morning," Chris Feinthel, the Assistant Commissioner of Operations for NJDOT, said.
"We do our potholes as a moving operation. What I mean by that is we're not going to put up a full-blown lane closure, we're going to do a temporary, either a stop of traffic or close just one lane," Feinthel said.
Last week, the NJDOT launched its yearly statewide pothole repair campaign. This is the focus for 66 highway operation teams.
"This season so far, we've done about 35,000 potholes, believe it or not, statewide," Feinthel said.
Still, the department said it is seeing more potholes this year than previously. The freeze-thaw cycle, they said, is to blame.
"This winter was a little harsher. Not necessarily with snow accumulation, but the freeze-thaw cycle. We've seen a lot of warm days and then some extremely cold days — that's what ruins the pavement," Feinthel said.
In a matter of minutes, several potholes were fixed on a stretch of road in Lawnside, and the crew moves onto the next one.
"We're going to keep at it until it's done. There is really no end date per se," Feinthel said.
NJDOT expects to fill 150,000 potholes by the end of the campaign. The agency encourages drivers to report any potholes either by calling 1-800-POTHOLE or online.
Pothole fixing season is also ramping up for PennDOT. The agency said repairs started in mid-January, but the warmer weather allows for a more permanent fix on the roads.
CBS News Philadelphia cameras tagged along as PennDOT crews filled potholes on the Girard Avenue Bridge in Philadelphia recently. They said crews can work in most conditions, including light rain.
So far, the state's used about 1,300 tons of asphalt in and around Philadelphia. A spokesperson said an average of 22,000 tons of asphalt were used the last two years.
This week, PennDOT is focusing on more than 50 state highways, including parts of US 202, I-476 and I-95.
"When we have temperatures over 40 degrees, we're able to get out there and use that hot mix," Robyn Briggs, the Community Relations Coordinator for PennDOT District 6, said. "We have over 2,000 customer care center concerns and what happens is those concerns are sent straight to our maintenance list."
While PennDOT crews do monitor roadways for potholes, they encourage drivers to also report any problems. That can be done by calling 1-800-FIX-ROAD or logging on to penndot.pa.gov and clicking on "submit concern."
