This year, $100 million will be spent on road repairs.  But, some want to spend more of that money on preventative maintenance to keep roads from cracking open, which could end up costing more.

"Instead of spending $1 million a lane mile to reconstruct a terrible road, we can spend a tenth of that or less to do these periodic upgrades and keep these roads good forever," said Chang.

That would mean more road maintenance work, but it could get rid of many potholes problem areas.

"The hope is to get roads in need of repair tended to early and save reconstruction for the roads that cannot be repaired," said Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle.

While the city evaluates the effectiveness of the new sealing techniques, it will also undergo a pavement management program, which inventories all roads and their condition to see where the new treatments should be used.