The commissioner is closely monitoring the condition of New Jersey roadways and joined pothole-repair crews on the job to emphasize the importance of this task.

“Filling potholes is a year-round safety priority at NJDOT, but the job intensifies each spring when the weather helps create large numbers of these road hazards,” Simpson said. “With hundreds of our employees on patrol and motorists reporting potholes to us, we will tackle this perennial problem in a timely manner.”

NJDOT pothole repair crews are fanning out statewide as workers make permanent repairs to what is expected to be a bumper crop of potholes this year due to the unusually harsh winter weather. Commissioner Simpson encouraged motorists to report potholes online at www.state.nj.us/transportation or by calling 1-800-POTHOLE.

Since January, NJDOT road crews have filled about 45,000 potholes with cold asphalt patch material. With the arrival of warmer weather, they are starting to switch to hot asphalt patch material which provides for longer lasting repairs.

NJDOT expects to repair more than 150,000 potholes for the fiscal year ending June 30. Last year, the department spent $2.2 million and used 4,800 tons of patch material to fill 121,000 potholes.

New Jersey residents play an important role in helping the department identify the location of new potholes as they develop on the nearly 13,000 NJDOT-maintained lane-miles of interstate, U.S. and state highways, including ramps and shoulders. Last year, residents used an online form to report 15,000 potholes and other roadway problems and reported about 4,000 potholes using the telephone hotline.