Edmonton – Now that the temperature is rising and the snow is melting, city crews are working around the clock to fix a major problem for Edmonton motorists: potholes.
According to the city, a minimum of 20 crews are working at all hours of the day, patching up the Edmonton’s potholes.
“We’ve done 100,000 potholes to date. On an average year we’re at 450,000. So we’re ahead of the curve as far as the numbers we’ve done. The rest of the season, the spring, determines where we’re going to be at the long term,” says Roland Aitchison, City of Edmonton Roadway Maintenance.
One obstacle crews are dealing with now that the temperature is increasing is the accumulation of water on roads, which is a bigger problem than some years after last week’s snow storm.
“Water on the roads is always a problem. So, again, our focus is try and get the gutters clean so we can get the water to drain off the road surface and stay in the gutters,” explains Aitchison.
The city says residents can help the process by clearing snow and ice in and around a drain on a street in front of their home.
“That would help us. If they get to a point where it’s unmanageable for them, by all means, call 311 and we’ll have somebody respond,” says Aitchison.
The city says going forward it will assign all the man power and equipment available for pothole repair.
With files from Shane Jones