Belmar Declares War On Potholes

Belmar officials want peace at the beach, but war on potholes.

The Department of Public Works sent a text message to residents on Friday asking for their support in eradicating the invasion of the dreaded dugout craters.

Anyone who sees potholes should report them to to dpw@boro.belmar.nj.us "and we'll be out to fix them with hot patch," according to the message.

State Department of Transportation Commissioner James Simpson also announced a concentrated effort Friday that will extend into the spring to repair potholes across New Jersey.

Severe winter weather has produced extraordinarily high numbers of potholes on state highways, creating hazardous conditions for motorists.

To deal with potholes in the most aggressive and efficient manner, the department will be allowing crews through the state to close travel lanes where necessary during daytime hours, including during peak travel times for priority repairs. 

Where possible, crews will limit their daytime work hours to 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., per standard protocol, and will try to avoid working in travel lanes carrying traffic in the peak direction during peak times.  However, motorists should expect to encounter maintenance crews making priority repairs any time of the day or night during this campaign.

The department will be using Variable Message Signs to alert motorists of the campaign and, to the extent possible, of lane closures that could result in temporary travel delays.  Detailed current repair locations will be posted on a continual basis on www.511nj.org.

In addition to the department’s usual pothole repair methods which in the winter months include cold patch material and pothole-filling machines, the Department has hired a contractor to complement these efforts.  The contractor, Schifano Construction Co., will be purchasing hot asphalt from plants and will use this material to make repairs to individual potholes and to entire sections of damaged highway.

To illustrate the severity of the pothole situation, NJDOT typically repairs about 160,000 potholes per year.  In just the past five months, NJDOT has filled about 100,000 potholes.

To report a pothole, call 1-800-POTHOLE or use the reporting form on the Department’s homepage atwww.nj.gov/transportation.