The City of Edmonton says it is ahead of the game when it comes to pothole repair.
So far this year, crews have filled more than twice the number of potholes than they did by this time in 2020.
“This year we’ve been very proactive with potholes,” said Eduardo Sosa, the city’s director of infrastructure maintenance.
That’s due to a couple of factors, according Sosa.
“We’ve actually had dedicated crews doing potholes, but the weather has been very favourable for potholes. If you remember last year, we had more precipitation and we didn’t have the nice January we had this year,” Sosa explained.
“The other important piece is the number of potholes our residents are actually reporting — this year, we have actually about a third of what we had last year because of a number of reasons.
“With the pandemic this year, people are going out less and with that, we have less people reporting potholes.”
While the city will repair potholes on Edmonton’s busiest roadways before lesser-used streets, Sosa said there is no one area of the city that is any worse than the others.
“Every winter when our temperatures are higher, we go through a number of freeze/thaw cycles and those actually make the water from the snow freeze and expand and create potholes in our roads,” he explained.
“Potholes show up everywhere because the only thing that it takes is a tiny crack and water infiltrating and freezing and the traffic load making that frozen asphalt pop up. I wouldn’t say there is a particular area.”
Sosa asks drivers to slow down and pay attention to the crews who are out there doing the repairs.
“They are dealing with very hot material, heavy equipment, so give them space and be nice to them. They are out there just trying to do a good job and take pride of it. So let’s be happy to each other.”
Drivers who see potholes should report them through the City of Edmonton’s 311 app for iOS or Android, on the city’s website or by calling 311.