CALGARY- Now that the piles of snow drifts have finally melted off Calgary streets, a new problem is emerging: potholes.
The recent weather has created perfect conditions for the pesky craters. Sun causes asphalt to crack, and water then seeps into it. Holes have popped up around the city, including on Highway 22x and ironically, in front of City Hall.
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Workers at auto body shops say that compared to this time last year, they’ve seen double the number of vehicles needing repairs due to pothole damage.
“I had one that took out a big Ford F350 truck,” says Greg Sperry from Meineke Car Care. “We’ve been seeing a lot more.”
The city conducts pothole patrol year round, but can only temporarily fix problems in the winter until spring brings more stable temperatures. Despite lots of grumbling from drivers, officials say the holes are no worse this January than they were last year.
On average, city crews fill an average of forty-thousand potholes per year. To put that in perspective, crews in Edmonton repair seven hundred thousand.
To report a pothole, call 311 or do it on the city’s website.
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