NJDOT announces statewide pothole repair blitz

Kolluri outlines aggressive plan to improve road safety

(Hamilton) Standing at the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) Maintenance Yard in Hamilton, Commissioner Kris Kolluri today announced that NJDOT will continue its aggressive efforts to repair potholes across the state. NJDOT has filled 93,000 potholes in 2006 and aims to fill 350,000 by June.

“NJDOT began repairing potholes as soon as they appeared this year and will fill over 21,000 per week as the number of potholes created by an erratic winter mounts,” said Kolluri. The Commissioner is asking the motoring public to help make the state’s roads safer by identifying pothole locations via 1-800-POTHOLE or the NJDOT website.

“Today's demonstration helps to drive home the point that the battle against potholes is a cooperative effort by the state, county and municipal governments,” said Mayor Glen Gilmore, Hamilton.

NJDOT uses nine “pothole killer” machines to rapidly and cost-efficiently eliminate potholes on state roadways. The pothole killer machine can apply approximately six tons of patch material per day. Each pothole killer contains all of the material needed to patch a pothole. A single person operates each machine by using a joystick control inside the vehicle’s cab. This reduces the number of staff needed to patch potholes and increases employee safety by enabling pothole killer operators to work from the safety of the vehicle.

NJDOT also employs 400 maintenance staff to manually patch potholes. Over 100 DOT maintenance crews are available to repairs potholes throughout the state.

Potholes are created by major fluctuations in temperatures that cause moisture in roadways to freeze and thaw, breaking up the pavement. Such temperature changes typically occur in the spring as days become warmer, but temperatures have fluctuated during recent weeks.

NJDOT will primarily perform repairs on weekends and during evening hours to minimize disruptions to traffic flow.

Pothole repair facts:

• NJDOT has filled over 93,000 potholes in 2006
• NJDOT will fill over 350,000 by June 2006
• NJDOT has used more than 2,809 tons of patch material in 2006
• In 2005, NJDOT filled 344,552 potholes
• In 2005, NJDOT used 10,337 tons of material
• NJDOT will spend $6.1 million on pothole repairs in fiscal year 2006
• 1-800-POTHOLE has received 1,212 calls in 2006 and received 5,113 total calls in 2005
• NJDOT’s website has received 2,632 pothole hits in 2006 and received 9,681 hits in 2005

To report a pothole on a State highway, motorists are urged to call 1-800-POTHOLE or log on to the DOT’s website http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/ and click “Report a Pothole.”