New Brunswick's transportation minister says a section of new road that barely lasted weeks will be fixed this coming construction season.

But Bill Oliver said it's still hard to say exactly what that solution will entail.

Last October, the province chip-sealed a five-kilometre section of Route 845, known as the Pickwauket Road, just on the outskirts of Hampton.

It became clear to residents pretty quickly that something was wrong.

The paving crews had barely left the scene when potholes began to form.

Resident Mark Blackier told CBC News at the time he wasn't surprised the road was falling apart so quickly.

Mark Blackier lives on the stretch of Route 845 that was chip-sealed in October. He says the road is more dangerous now than before the work was done. (Graham Thompson/CBC)

"There [were] potholes forming while they were actually doing the project," he said. "We knew there were going to be problems, and now we've got potholes almost six to eight inches deep, up to my ankle."

Cause still a mystery

Oliver said Friday the department is beginning preparations for the construction season, and engineers are trying to evaluate exactly why the road hasn't held up.

"From that, we can determine what process we have to go through, whether we have to put a new top on it, or we have to pulverize it again and start from scratch," he said.

But the reason for its rapid deterioration remains a mystery.

Transportation minister Bill Oliver says fixing the road, which is in his riding, is a 'top priority.' (Radio-Canada)

"Look, there's as many theories as there are engineers, almost," Oliver said.

He said the work is under warranty and the contractor will be involved in the process.

Oliver said the road repairs will be "top priority" for the department, adding he hasn't ruled out using asphalt instead of chip seal.

The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure has filled potholes on the road three times in the past three months.

The first time was in late November of last year, just four weeks after the paving crews completed work there.

"The first attempt they just filled the potholes, like, just enough to fill them up. That lasted a week," Blackier said in an interview earlier this week.

Just a month after being chip-sealed, the Pickwauket Road on the outskirts of Hampton exploded with dozens of potholes. (Graham Thompson/CBC)

"So then they came out two weeks later and really did, like, they overpatched the holes, so that fixed the problems right up to about a month ago."

Oliver said that effort worked well because crews were able to use asphalt and not so-called "cold patch."

'Bad as ever'

But two months of traffic and snow removal has returned the road to its pre-patched state.

Ross Morton, who travels the road regularly, chronicled the recent deterioration of the stretch on his Twitter feed.

Feb.14: "Usual problems on the Pickwauket - May be getting slightly worse."

Feb 19: "Pickwauket is just sad. Potholes are back & some are big. Take your time."

Feb 25: "Looks like road works happening on the Pickwauket for some of the potholes."

Feb 28: "Pickwauket - bad as ever."

DTI crews did show up Feb. 25 to fill holes, but Oliver said they had to use cold patch, which he said is "not very effective."

Blackier said it didn't even last one night.

"So all these holes they patched on Tuesday, they're all wide open again," he said.

"I'm not sure what happened, I can't even imagine, but it looks like someone dropped a bunch of missiles from the sky." Blackier said with a laugh.

The five-kilometre stretch of the recently paved road has warnings to drivers, but residents say even careful driving hasn't saved their vehicles from damage. (Steven Webb/CBC)

But the issue isn't funny for Blackier and other area residents.

A Facebook group set up around the road problems contains a litany of complaints about damage to vehicles over the past few months.

They include bent rims and blown tires, damaged struts and shocks, cracked and chipped windshields and paint jobs ruined by rock chips and tar stains.

Blackier said his own vehicle has a cracked windshield from flying debris.

Some people went to the contractor seeking compensation without success, he said.

'Big disappointment'

So, they're considering other options.

"Right now we're in the process of trying to find a lawyer who will represent us all, to see what we can do," he said.

Oliver, who drives the road regularly, as it is in his riding, said residents have every right to be upset.

"It was certainly never our intention to leave a road in the shape that it's in," he said.

"I mean it's five kilometres of road that's been a concern ever since I've been on the Belleisle, and that's been about 30 years now, and so here we are we finally got a chance to do some work on it and it ended up like this," Oliver said.

"So, it's certainly a big disappointment."