The cities of Vancouver and Surrey say they’ve increased their staffing levels to deal with an usual number of calls about mid-winter potholes in the aftermath of extreme weather.
Since the start of the month, the City of Vancouver has responded to some 197 pothole calls — a 50-per-cent-increase from its monthly average. The City of Surrey has also reported the same increase and about 300 calls for pothole repair.
“Potholes are caused by regular freezing and thawing during seasonal changes and usually occur on older road surfaces,” wrote Vancouver communications specialist Elayne Sun in an email.
“With the recent record-breaking cold snap followed by warming temperatures, we’re expecting to see more pot holes on Vancouver roads.”
Neither Vancouver nor Surrey said they were behind on pothole repair this season.
Vancouver, however, has increased the capacity of its street operations team at the National Yard, adding more repair trucks and crews into daily maintenance shifts.
“Crews will have repairs on the majority of current pothole service requests completed by early next week,” wrote Sun.
Emergency requests are responded to and completed with same-day turnaround, she added.
In an emailed statement, the City of Surrey said it has doubled its pothole repair staff from eight to 16 and those staff are working extended hours to get a handle on the problem.
It, too, attributed the uncommon winter “with continuous freeze” as a contributor to the issue.
By email, Mainroad Lower Mainland Contracting said it too would be conducting pothole repairs in the coming days.
On Friday, drivers should expect to see crews on various service area highways between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. as they complete the work.
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