Potholes spring up on city streets

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This article was published 17/03/2022 (917 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg streets are beginning to resemble the cratered surface of the moon.

As the snow melts, and the freeze-thaw cycle begins, drivers are forced to dodge potholes to avoid damaging their vehicles, not to mention rattling their nerves.

“My one message is to people, slow down,” said Fred Zoltan, who has lived in the city for many years.

“Everybody’s racing. They’re banging through the potholes, they’re going to pay for it at the dealership when they go to get their suspension fixed. Slow down. It is what it is.”

Zoltan said he’s had to get the suspension on his vehicle fixed several times as a result of driving on roads littered with potholes.

The city’s pothole patrol has already hit the streets.

Normally, crews fill an average of 170,000 potholes every year. This year, they’ve got a long way to go yet: about 450 potholes had been repaired as of March 14.

The city approaches pothole repair season similarly to snow clearing; streets are prioritized based on traffic flow, starting with main streets, then bus routes and collector streets. Residential streets are the third priority.

City spokesman Ken Allen said it’s a late start to the season because the winter was so long and cold. At this time last year, crews had filled 3,000 holes.

“Because we didn’t have that mild weather, there hasn’t been as many potholes earlier this year so far,” he said.

“So we haven’t been receiving the same amount of calls to 311 about potholes as we would in a year where there’s a melting period in February, and if potholes started emerging we would definitely be getting calls.”

When the snow melts, water seeps into cracks in pavement or the sub base of the road. That water freezes when it gets cold and places pressure on the pavement, creating a pothole. Heavy traffic on weak pavement tends to make the holes worse.

This year, the constant cold meant there were fewer chances for water to get into pavement cracks.

The city was able to put all hands on deck to deal with the massive amount of snow clearing and removal this year, meaning potholes weren’t a high priority.

“It’s kind of Mother Nature,” Allen said.

“We’ve had lots of blizzards we had to focus our attention on. Plus, we didn’t have this freeze-thaw cycle till now, and we didn’t have a melting period in January or February where potholes might have emerged like they have in previous years, so we’ve been able to focus our efforts on snow clearing.”

Current repairs are temporary. Potholes are filled with an asphalt product suitable for cold weather. In May, a more permanent solution, such as hot asphalt, can be used.

“It’s a temporary patch to make the repairs and make the road more drivable,” Allen explained. “But very often in the springtime, because of those wet and cold conditions, those patches might come out, and those holes will have to be repaired a second time or even a third time.”

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca