Street sweeping, pothole blitz starts on Monday

It’s spring cleaning season for the City of Saskatoon.

The city will launch its seasonal pothole and street sweeping blitz on April 13. Crews will spend three weeks sweeping high-traffic roads — “priority one” streets will be swept at night while secondary streets will be swept during the day.

The pothole blitz targets many of the same high-traffic roadways.

“We know the residents of Saskatoon anxiously wait for the city street sweeping program to start. It basically is the launch of spring for many residents,” said public works director Pat Hyde at a city news conference Thursday.

No parking enforcement will be done during the blitz period (sweepers will go around parked vehicles), but enforcement will happen during the city-wide neighbourhood curb-to-curb street sweeping, which is expected to start May 4.

Crews will also clean up debris and sand deposited on medians where snow was stored.

The city will use private contractors to augment crews from the public works and parks departments, Hyde said.

In 2014, the city repaired 188,000 potholes with 3,300 tonnes of asphalt.

The street sweeping program has a $3.2-million budget this year, Hyde said.

In 2013, 673 people filed claims against the city for damage caused by potholes. The city paid out $56,444 for 127 successful claims.

Earlier this year, the city launched an upgraded online reporting tool for pothole repairs. People can report and describe the potholes they find on city streets.

“Pothole season right now is pretty much like any other season — not any better or any worse. We’re not experiencing anything out of the ordinary,” Hyde said.

The full street sweeping schedule can be found at www.saskatoon.ca/betterroads.