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PennDOT Chief: Winter Weather Has Wiped Out Road Maintenance Budget

The PennDOT secretary says his annual funding allocation for winter road maintenance has been wiped out by the harsh winter weather.

Barry Schoch says his agency is already about 11 million dollars over budget for the season.

He said frigid temperatures, snow and ice, along with underinvestment in road paving, has led to more and more potholes.

"Here in Harrisburg yesterday, 83, we had massive, crater-like potholes because of, as you said, 50 degrees after that long freeze, that’s just — I hate to be the harbinger of bad news but expect more of that come next month," Schoch  said. "And it’s a reflection of years of not paving as much as we should have."

Schoch said road crews will be aggressive about repaving torn up roads — noting that a portion of the money will come from the two-point-three billion dollar transportation funding package signed into law last fall.

He added it will also go toward more long-term repairs to damaged road surfaces.