City crews are embracing dry but cold Winnipeg weather to temporarily fix early-season potholes.
“There was very little pothole patching going on last spring around this time but this year, it’s kind of on average,” City of Winnipeg public works communications coordinator Ken Allen said.
Right now, the city has four crews out fixing roads and as the weather warms up, there will be closer to a dozen.
So far this year crews have already fixed thousands of potholes.
“So far in terms of service requests to 311, we’ve had about 450 requests for pothole repairs and since January 1st our crews (have been out) when they’ve needed to be out patching potholes. As of today, we have patched over 5,800 potholes,” Allen said.
Because hot asphalt isn’t available for use until mid-May, crews currently use a special mix to patch holes in roadways. As the weather warms up, they’ll return to make permanent repairs.
City streets are fixed based on a priority system.
“In the springtime when potholes are getting repaired, we are really focusing our efforts on those main routes where cars are traveling a bit faster, there’s more traffic volume to contend with,” Allen said.
Even though pothole season is just getting started, CAA is already seeing some potential impacts.
“We don’t track potholes specifically but we do track tow calls and it has gone up slightly over the past week or two and while we don’t know for sure those are from potholes we can kind of assume that’s what’s going on,” said CAA Manitoba communications manager Elisha Dacey.
To report a pothole, Winnipeggers can call 311 or fill out a new online reporting form found on the city’s website.