COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. (WTVR) - A few months ago, Dawn Nelson from Colonial Heights bought a brand new 2013 Hyundai Elantra.
“Really excited, I mean, it's cute!” Nelson says with a laugh.
But fresh chips and dings on her windshield and hood have dampened her thrill.
“It's like a knife in the heart,” says Nelson.
She says the damage is the result of road repaving on Interstate 95 North, which she takes each morning on her commute from to Richmond.
“The little crumbs from the pavement that when cars are driving past them they fly up and it sounds like I'm going through gun fire,” says Nelson.
VDOT is repaving the stretch of Interstate 95 between Chippenham Parkway and Maury Street. The debris left behind on the road is a byproduct of the repaving process that VDOT crews work on a daily basis to contain.
VDOT officials say every time a paving crew finishes work on a project for the day, a sweeper vacuum truck runs over the road to pick up debris. An inspector then follows behind to check for problems.
“In most cases there should be very little debris,” says Sundra Hominik, spokesperson for VDOT.
The repaving process goes in stages. After the original pavement is removed, crews pour an intermediate mix of pavement that is about three inches deep.
“There's going to be a difference between that intermediate and the old pavement, so there's that little two inch lip,” says Hominik. “Sometimes that's where debris can be the worst.”
Dawn Nelson has taken her concerns to VDOT. She supports their efforts to repave Interstate 95, but hopes her new car "Ruby" will stop taking hits sooner rather than later.
“It would be nice if they would pay for my hood to be repainted, but I know that's wishing in one hand,” says Nelson.
VDOT officials expect the repaving project to continue through October 2013, and they will begin working on the southbound lanes soon.
VDOT officials say they want to hear from the public if there are any concerns so that their inspectors can analyze the best way to minimize debris.
