Tennessee Department of Transportation Launches Plan for Pothole Repair

Nashville, TN – This month’s back-to-back winter storms have created an abundance of potholes along interstates and state highways. The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) is using all available staffing to repair the damaged areas as quickly as possible.

As the weather allows, multiple crews will be patching potholes over the coming days and weeks. Cold mix asphalt is currently being used for repairs. Asphalt plants may open during the day and allow crews to use hot mix for more permanent repairs in some areas. However, it may be spring or early summer before more permanent repairs are made throughout the state. Full-scale paving may be necessary to repair more severe locations fully. Dedicated crews will be assigned to interstates, while smaller groups will focus on state routes.
 
Please note – inclement weather, other emergency repairs, or incidents may disrupt daily repair schedules. TDOT does not count individual potholes, keep a tally of how many potholes have been repaired or the cost of repairs per pothole. These repairs are part of normal highway maintenance operations. Below is what we’ve spent so far this year and what we’ve spent in past years.

Tennessee Expenditures for pothole patching

• FY2022 (thru 1/19/22) – $3.32M ($9.16M budget)
• FY2021 – $7.23M ($8.91M budget)
• FY2020 – $8.11M ($8.60M budget)
• FY2019 – $8.79M ($7.17M budget)

Motorists should be prepared for short-term traffic delays during these repair operations. While every effort will be made to perform repairs during off-peak travel times (9:00pm-3:00pm weekdays), some lane closures may extend into the late afternoon, evening, and weekends. We ask drivers to be patient and watch out for TDOT crews on interstates and state highways. Work with Us – move over, slow down.

Motorists can alert TDOT to potholes using this form: https://www.tn.gov/tdot/maintenance/maintenance-request.html