RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Department of Transportation recently approved a $900,000 request to fix the crumbling southern loop of the Interstate 440 Beltline.

Pavement along the 20-year-old section of the Beltline from Interstate 40 in southeast Raleigh to U.S. Highway 1 in Cary is falling apart.

"The road is terrible -- potholes -- it's hard to drive," one motorist told WRAL. "Sometimes, you're afraid your tire might blow out, may pop -- it's real horrible, really horrible."

An outside contractor will soon be patching potholes and filling in the cracks, but the repairs will not be done before the spring.

"We're aware that we've got problems out there," said DOT engineer Chris McGee. "And we're patching them, but we're also aware that it's slowly getting away from us."

The DOT said the contractor will use a new mixture to fill in the holes that hardens faster so crews will spend less time blocking lanes during repairs.