EDMONTON – Crumbling neighbourhood roads will see an extra $9-million worth of repairs this year to deal with conditions one city councillor described as “abysmal.”
This winter’s heavy snow and the freeze-thaw cycle combined to create one of Edmonton’s worst pothole seasons in years, and city councillors voted Wednesday to marshal additional resources to fight the problem.
They’ve already agreed to pour $13 million more into fixing bad arterial roads, but Coun. Bryan Anderson called this “the tip of the iceberg.”
“I think there are neighbourhoods where there are more holes than pavement,” he said, despite Mayor Stephen Mandel comments that he’s overstating the issue.
“There are local roads and collector roads … that are going to need to be dealt with, and sooner rather than later.”
Coun. Don Iveson, who described some streets in his southwest ward as abysmal, agreed work is needed immediately because these communities can’t wait eight or 10 years for a complete rehabilitation.
“I do have roads in my ward of different ages … that are virtually impassable. This year has hit us like a ton of bricks,” he said.
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“I know every one of us has situations like that.”
There are now 16 crews filling potholes across Edmonton, roadway maintenance director Bob Dunford said.
He expects they’ll repair about 600,000 of the traffic hazards this year, up from an average of 450,000.
“We’re working around the clock.”
Staff will use the new money to do paving overlays on blocks in particularly bad condition.
The money is coming from changes to the operating budget.
Last December, council approved a 3.3-per-cent average civic tax hike for 2013, but this spring the provincial education tax that makes up about one-third of the total property tax bill actually went down in Edmonton.
This gave the city room to boost its tax take by $19.3 million while still holding the total average residential tax increase to 3.3 per cent.
If council hadn’t boosted its share of taxes, the average homeowner would have saved about $60.
Although in the past Mandel has argued such windfalls should be returned to ratepayers, he said the city needs the money this year.
“The reason I support it is we need to deal with road improvements and the huge amount of development. … It’s pay now or pay later,” the mayor said, explaining the city is buying land for such projects as new LRT lines and the Quarters.
“We think this is a much better use. The people who want their neighbourhoods fixed, the $9 million will make them very happy.”
The remaining $10 million in tax “room” will be used to help pay for land purchases.
More to come …
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