By David Preut
VCU InSight
March was pothole “blitz” month in Virginia after Gov. Bob McDonnell ordered the Virginia Department of Transportation to focus on repairing the thousands of potholes pocketing the Commonwealth’s roads.
A record-setting winter left Virginia’s roadways in particularly bad shape this spring. After the first few weeks, V-DOT reported having repaired more than 43,000 potholes statewide, with over 4,000 fixed in Richmond alone.
An average of 200 Richmond residents called in the first few days to report a pothole to V-DOT. According to V-DOT spokesperson, Taya Jarman, this number has been drastically reduced since the blitz began.
“If we’re also using our citizens letting us know as a guide, we haven’t received as many emails or concerns,” Jarman said. “So that might be a way for us to gauge, to know that we are doing a good job out there.”
Jarman also said that she can’t remember there ever being this many potholes to fix before.
