City crews make inroads against pothole problem
City has already filled 3,500 holes since April
Calgary ’s construction season is in full swing as crews work to repair roadways riddled with potholes.
“With this tough winter, it’s been very hard, and every motorist, cyclist and pedestrian in Calgary knows that the state of our pavement at the end of that winter was not what we needed it to be,” said Mayor Naheed Nenshi.
The number of calls to 311 about potholes is up slightly this year, said Nenshi, with about 5,000 reports, including duplicates of the same pothole.
The city has been plagued with pothole problems, such as the one that caused a sinkhole downtown. In the community of Auburn Bay, perilous potholes took out numerous vehicles.
Since April, however, crews have filled about 3,500 potholes, which amounts to about 700 a week.
“That’s a really, really amazing outcome, because in normal winters when we have nice chinook days, we also fill potholes over the course of the winter and we really couldn’t this year,” Nenshi said.
Twice a month for major roadways, city inspectors will come by and note where the potholes are, while the inspection for collector roads happens once a month.
“On major roads like Crowchild Trail and those roads, we tend to do those at night when traffic volumes are lower,” said Troy McLeod, city roads director.
“Then, in the day, we’re into the residential areas where there’s less volume, obviously, people are away at work and things like that, so that’s when we focus on the residentials.”
The number of duplicate reports on potholes is about 30 per cent, said McLeod, but the city is working to reduce that number by developing a system that will allow the public to report potholes and be notified if it has been previously flagged.
It would work similarly to how broken street lights are reported, where users can select a street light on a map.
Despite the higher number of calls, McLeod said pothole work is back to normal for this time of year, while the city is still within the $6.2-million budget for minor asphalt repairs, which includes potholes.
“Really, April is where we really got at it, so that’s where you’re now seeing us catch up. We’ve dedicated nine crews, one per district, while we do spring cleanup, and we’re trying to get the roads swept as well at the same time,” said McLeod.