T-DOT Begins Repairs On Potholes After Ice Storm

T-DOT began work Tuesday to start addressing potholes on interstates and state highways.

T-DOT Spokesperson Jennifer Flynn said pot holes get prioritized because of the dangers to vehicles.

“Cold temperatures, the snow, the ice, the salt, the plowing, the warmer weather, wet weather,” Flynn said. “All of this combines together to cause potholes to form. It gets into the cracks and crevasses in the road and it will cause a pothole to pop out.”

Flynn said that crews split their time preparing equipment for the chance of another potential storm, and fixing potholes. Flynn said repairs can be either temporary and permanent.

“It depends on what kind of asphalt they can get, sometimes this time of year it’s hard to find an asphalt plant that’s open to get hot-mix,” Flynn said. “So, sometimes it may be a temporary fix and they’ll come back and put a permanent fix when the weather warms up.”

Flynn said that T-DOT uses its own crews for potholes and debris cleanup on state right-of-ways. She said T-DOT starts with interstate cleanup and then transitions into fixing larger state routes.

“You don’t want somebody out there dodging a pothole or someone hitting a pothole and ruining a tire,” Flynn said. “We get out there and get those as quickly as possible.”

Flynn said debris gets prioritized in the same way that potholes do. She said T-DOT will clean up debris on priority routes, first.