Potholes, slushy streets plague Winnipeg drivers in warmer weather

WINNIPEG — It’s a problem that usually pops up in spring, but potholes are already giving drivers headaches.

Thanks to the warmer weather, large craters have formed along many major routes through Winnipeg.

City crews were out filling them on the weekend and again Monday.

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“This last three days of warm weather definitely has contributed to an acceleration of potholes,” said Jim Berezowsky, the manager of streets maintenance at the city.

But if you are hoping city crews will plow your slushy residential street on top of filling potholes, think again.

It costs $3.5 million dollars for a full residential plow and Berezowsky says there are no plans to clear all the side streets.

There hasn’t been a full residential plow at all this winter.

Berezowsky says there would have to be a snowfall of 10 centimetres or more before the Know Your Zone clean up would start.

He says crews are monitoring side streets and have cleared away some problem areas as well as put sand down.

Priority 1 streets are the focus of this latest pothole patching effort, a city spokeswoman said in an email.

RELATED: Mapping Winnipeg’s pothole complaints