ARLINGTON, Va. (WUSA) -- There's a statewide war on potholes. Governor Bob McDonnell has launched a campaign to have Virginia's Department of Transportation patch tens of thousands of potholes.
The potholes are supposed to be worse this year than ever, John Townsend with AAA Mid-Atlantic says that's because of state budget cuts.
While many potholes are caused by weather, some are created by utility companies.
"Utility companies are to blame," says Townsend. He says some utility crews patch up the roads incorrectly. "Within a utility cut, potholes. And that's what happens because when you repair this it actually makes the street weak."
9NEWS NOW's Lindsey Mastis found plenty of potholes forming within the those repairs.
And what about holes utility crews leave exposed?
"We fill them up, because we want to take care of the issue then," said Steve Shannon with VDOT.
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VDOT is trying to fix every pothole now. March is when the season changes, meaning more potholes pop up.
Since late February, Shannon says VDOT has filled 5,500 potholes, and some crews are working overnight. Others are using a machine called the "pothole killer" that patches the holes up to 75 percent faster.
VDOT is prioritizing the potholes, getting to the more dangerous ones first. How do you know if a pothole is dangerous? Shannon says an example is a pothole that could cause a motorcyclist to crash.