Potholes, resurfacing work causing damage to vehicles traveling on I-565

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - We’re on your side with pot holes and rough roads. Many of you have reached out about the resurfacing project on I-565, saying it’s causing damage to vehicles.

We’ve got answers on how much longer this project will continue and why you likely should find a different route home until work is finished.

Thousands of people drive I-565 everyday. The area between Greenbrier Road and County Line Road is riddled with potholes. For many, this is a costly road project as they’ve had a lot of repairs made to their vehicles.

“Yeah it was like tink, tink and I was like, what was that?”

Brianna Williams drives 565 everyday on her way to work as a news producer at WAFF. Her vehicle is one of many that’s been damaged by resurfacing on the interstate.

“What is that? That’s a dent from debris. There’s two,” said Williams.

Brianna also had to replace a front tire that fell victim to a pothole.

“With the time change I didn’t see it until the last minute, and I hit it. That tire was about $160. It’s a lot going on. This Midwesterner is not use to all of this,” Williams laughed.

Work to widen and repave roughly 7 miles of highway started last summer. The project stretches from just west of Interstate 65 to County Line Road. Road crews are expanding the highway to three travel lanes in each direction. Seth Burkett with the Alabama Department of Transportation says he’s aware of the rough ride. And, he says paving crews are working to smooth out your drive.

“Today, the westbound is much better than it was a couple of days ago. They went ahead and patched most of the worse areas on Sunday night. Hopefully those will be sturdy patches that will hold up. They’re not just throwing some mix into a pot hole,” said Seth Burkett, Alabama Department of Transportation.

Signs are up warning drivers of road work. Speed limits of 55 are posted. The weather hasn’t exactly been cooperative allowing for much paving and patching to take place. This highway project is supposed to wrap up later this year. For now, drivers will just have to put up with it - or find a temporary way home.

“I am determined to find a different route because I don’t want to pay for anything else. It starts to add up once you start replacing things on your car,” said Williams

According to ALDOT, the contractor on the project will be incentivized to complete the project prior to December 17, 2021, receiving $25,000 per day the project is complete ahead of that deadline, up to a maximum of 50 days and $1.25 million.

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