Temperature swing leaves Fredericton drivers frustrated with potholes

City of Fredericton officials are reminding drivers to pay attention to the roads and slow down when they see potholes.

READ MORE: Little recourse for motorists during pothole season

Crews have been busy trying to keep up with filling potholes in the capital city with freeze and thaw temperatures leading to several problem spots across the region.

City of Fredericton manager of roadways Mike Walker said crews are out every day using cold-mix asphalt to fill potholes.  Walker said crews have to fill some potholes every day and won’t be able to permanently fix the trouble spots until approximately May when hot asphalt facilities reopen.

“We’re starting to see significant potholes around the city.  Certainly in specific areas where there’s lots of traffic,” Walker said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We're starting to see significant potholes around the city.  Certainly in specific areas where there's lots of traffic," Walker said.

He said it’s something the city has been “dealing with all winter.”  He said high temperature swings throughout the winter have meant dealing with a higher volume of potholes than usual in December and January.

AA Towing driver Randy Griffiths said driving is like “playing hopscotch” with drivers trying to avoid potholes.  He said there are several “real bad” streets and he has responded to lots of calls from people who weren’t able to avoid potholes and blew their tires.

He said driving over a problem spot can cause alignment problems, damage the front ends of vehicles, as well as cause suspension problems. He said ball joints and tire rods can be loosened and destroyed.

Griffith said if drivers damage two tires and two rims it can easily cost more than $700.

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Fredericton Mayor Mike O’Brien said the city was aware more potholes would be coming with the weather the city has had.

“With the mild temperatures water gets into any cracks there are and when it freezes, it just pops open,” O’Brien said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "With the mild temperatures water gets into any cracks there are and when it freezes, it just pops open," O'Brien said.

He said it’s the “nature of the beast” and said the best winters for the roads are the ones that are cold throughout the winter and a normal thaw occurs.

“It’s happening everywhere.  We’re trying again with our infrastructure to be proactive and fix streets in advance before they crack and have little chips in them because it just takes a little hairline crack for water to get into them and create a pothole,” O’Brien said.

He said in the last seven to eight years the city has had an aggressive infrastructure renewal program for roads and streets and said eventually the city will be “better prepared 10 years down the road,” but said potholes are currently a “fact of life”.

O’Brien said he wants drivers to be careful, slow down and use caution until permanent repairs can be done in the spring, advice Walker said he agrees with.