After a number of complaints were lodged by residents of a quiet Winnipeg neighbourhood, the city finally got to work.
Its goal? To fill up the potholes scattered around Springside Dr. and surrounding roads in Elm Park.
But getting to this point hasn’t been easy. Jackie Hanna, a resident, said that she asked people online to call 311, so that the city would be reminded to work on the roads. She first reached out to the city on June 19.
“The roads have been horrible since day one,” said Hanna. She added that she grew up in the area and had seen the conditions of the roads remain the same.
“They do these patches and fix them every year. But they just need to be redone.”
Her frustration over the work not being done was shared by fellow resident Dawna Smith, who said that there were times when she reached out to the city, she learned they had already received similar complaints.
“This year in particular, it’s been bad – all summer,” said Smith. “I’ve ended up popping two tires, one on this street and one close by. It’s frustrating.”
Smith said that while she had seen the city do road work this year, it amounted to nothing more than street sweeping. Patchwork was done in previous years but, like Hanna, she said more had to be done to address the potholes.
In the lead up to the city’s decision to tackle the potholes on Wednesday morning, Smith got to work on her own.
Her plan was to fill the potholes in with flowers.
“When you put two things together that create a shock, it sometimes gets action. I guess it worked,” said Smith.
Hanna said the neighbourhood loved the initiative. Their reaction, she added, was great.
Smith put her gardening skills to work — and started filling the potholes with flowers.
“On Monday when I started planting, after the second pothole, people were stopping and taking pictures. (They were) excited,” said Smith.
By Aug. 9, the women found city workers tending to the roads.
According to Hanna, road work began around 6:45 a.m. on Wednesday morning.
The city councillor for the area, Brian Mayes, said there have been a backlog of complaints regarding Springside Dr. He noted that more should be allocated in the budget to deal with potholes across the city.
“Certainly, compared to when I started eleven years ago, we’re spending five times as much per year,” said Mayes.
The councillor said over $160 million a year is spent on road work. He said that while there are some roads that are well off, work would definitely need to be done to patch potholes in other areas.
“I don’t blame people for being upset. It is frustrating,” said Mayes. “It’s not my call which street’s potholes get done before any other streets.”
According to the city, 77,000 potholes were filled between January 1 and June 7 this year.
“I was prepared to start planting (Wednesday) morning… but it was too late,” said Smith, feeling pleased that work was finally being done.
“I was surprised at how quickly it happened.”
The two women look forward to driving on a smooth street.
— With files from Global’s Teagan Rasche.
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