A recent spate of warm weather, and continued warm temperatures, are allowing some asphalt plants around the Mountain State to open early, giving the West Virginia Division of Highways (WVODH) and its contractors a head start patching this season’s crop of potholes.
Asphalt plants shut down with the arrival of cold weather for maintenance, when it’s too cold to use hot asphalt anyway. They usually reopen around the first of April, after temperatures warm back up.
But recent warm weather is allowing some plants to open earlier.
Asphalt plants serving the Charleston-Huntington area are already open. WVDOH road crews plan to patch westbound lanes on Interstate 64 between mile markers 53 and 50 (Dunbar to Institute) between the hours of 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 10, 2026.
Asphalt plants in the Clarksburg, Morgantown, Ripley, and eastern panhandle areas should open by the end of March.
Road crews can patch potholes during cold weather with a mixture of cold asphalt known as cold patch. But these repairs are only temporary until warm weather arrives and more permanent patching can be done with hot asphalt.