Potholes spur record number of legal claims against city
Expect council to debate emergency repaving measures
MORE MOTORISTS have filed pothole damage claims against the city over the last two months than in any full year since amalgamation.
The record number of legal claims — 223 and counting — is expected to spur a council debate Wednesday on emergency repaving possibilities for particularly pockmarked areas of Main Street West and Burlington Street.
“It’s already record-setting. Usually, spring is pothole claim season and we’re not even there yet,” said John McLennan, the city’s head of risk management. He said it’s possible the city will face between 400 and 500 claims by year’s end.
Until now, McLennan said he believed the annual number of claims has rarely, if ever,
topped 200 since amalgamation. The most recent annual high was 197 claims in 2015.
The worst street for car-eating legal claims is Burlington StreetNikola Tesla Boulevard, with 57, or close to 30 per cent, of all formal damage complaints. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it is the most pitted.
The speed limit on Burlington Street varies from 60 to 70 km/h — and drivers exiting the QEW sometimes travel faster still — so pothole damage can be more severe compared to a more rutted road where vehicles tend to move more slowly.
And while legal claims are piling up, that doesn’t necessarily mean the city will pay out a pile of money.
McLennan said in a “normal” year, the city will likely only approve between five and 10 per cent of pothole-damage claims. “Just because you hit a pothole doesn’t mean the city is liable. There has to be negligence.”
Put another way, the existence of a tire-eating pothole doesn’t necessarily prove negligence if the city has met the minimum standard of maintenance for the roadway in question.
Hamiltonians, meanwhile, are becoming almost lyrical in their complaints about road ruts.
On Twitter, Simon Carroll reported a “car-swallowing” pothole to the city last month, while Kyle Novakowski described Main Street West as a “minefield.”
Bruce Cooke compared his motoring experience to “rally driving,” while Kathy opted for an Olympic-themed analogy. “I feel like I’ve medalled in bobsleigh with the way I’ve expertly memorized the cracks and potholes along the Red Hill,” she tweeted.
Ward 1 Coun. Aidan Johnson and public works committee chair Lloyd Ferguson expect to bring forward a motion Wednesday at council asking for a $1million emergency “shave-andpave” of a notorious and fastdeteriorating section of Main Street West near McMaster University and the children’s hospital.
But where exactly that money comes from remains up for debate, and other councillors have indicated they want to talk about similar emergency measures in other pothole hot spots across the city.
The city has been patching ruts furiously in response to a wave of complaints, but it does not track the work in a way that allows reporting of how many potholes have been filled. Operations manager Bob Paul said workers have responded to 11,256 “sites” this year with “one or more” reported potholes.
In theory, the city could have a paving contractor available to grind down and repave Main Street within a week or two — if the weather co-operates, said public works head Dan McKinnon.
Frost, plunging temperatures or slushy weather could ruin a prospective paving job.
McKinnon said if council makes more money available for quick repaving, he can quickly provide a list of recommended projects. But he noted staff base their recommendations not just on potholes, but also on traffic counts, underground infrastructure issues and previously planned work.
“I suspect ... we may come up with different recommendations in some cases than councillors, because they are reacting to direct feedback from their residents.”