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Why have there been so many potholes on Charlotte County roads over the last few months? VDOT officials say blame Old Man Winter. As regional engineer Scott Frederick and his staff at the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) work to address the problems, he explained how they came about in the first place. 

Speaking at the Charlotte County Board of Supervisors meeting on Wednesday, March 12, Frederick said he and his group have been focused on filling potholes for the past week. 

“We do have a lot of people reminding us that the roads are falling apart, but it was a harsher winter than we’re used to,” Frederick said. “We put a lot more chemicals down than we have in years past, and then we had a really deep freeze.” 

All of that combined to create a number of problems throughout the county. The chemicals did what they were engineered to do and melted snow and ice. However, they also wore down parts of the pavement. Add to that the temperatures hovering in the single digits some nights and yes, parts of the road started crumbling. 

“If you can just be patient with us, we are aware and focusing on potholes,” Frederick said. He hopes to have that work done here in March, so he can start patching other problems in April.  

It’s also not the only winter cleanup that’s still going on. In fact, it’s not even the top one on the list. That would be tree and limb removal. Frederick told the board that it’s going to take more than a week or two to finish that task. 

“We are working to clean up the debris and we’re going to be doing that for the next month,” Frederick said. “We’ll be getting that off the roadways and stockpiling it. Once we stockpile it, we’ll put out and get a quick quote from a contractor to come in and reduce it down. And then they’ll dispose of the chippings.”