While it might not be as bad as Edmonton, St. Albert’s pothole situation is definitely worse than in any recent year in memory, say city officials.
“I’ve been at the city for seven years and this is probably the worst of it and I think it’s because of the winter we had,” said public works director Dan Rites. “We are still in good shape and the roads that are giving us trouble … the roads are rough, but we are looking at fixing them.”
This year’s winter, which saw lots of snow and large swings in temperature, led to more potholes on city roads. Potholes form when frost seeps into cracks in asphalt, then thaws. The subsequent moisture then enlarges the size of the crack, creating a pothole.
In fact public works will soon be going before council to get the go-ahead to do more overlay work on the areas where small sections of road are in really bad shape.
Rites said there are good prices available right now on products for overlay work. While the city does overlay work on different roads each summer, for which it mills down and then puts down new asphalt, what Rites had in mind is smaller chunks of overlay work instead of entire roads.
“We are starting to see some surface wear and damage where it’s going to turn into either an overlay or a rebuild,” Rites said. “We are going to be proposing, not full-out overlays but smaller patch-work.”
Public works crews have been working since there was snow on the ground to fill as many potholes as they can find or as the public reports. While there are no current numbers, as of April 13 crews had filled approximately 8,000 potholes in 2013 using 90 tonnes of material.
St. Albert actually fixes potholes year round, not exclusively in the spring and summer. The city has had crews working constantly, during the spring, at times 24 hours a day. In the winter public works was using a cold mix of material they would simply use to fill the holes. Now that the weather is warmer, they have switched to a hot asphalt mix that is meant as a more permanent solution.
More potholes means possible damage to more vehicles, which the city often ends up paying for. George Klassen, manager of risk and insurance for the city, said the city averages three or four claims per year from pothole damage. He is forecasting by the end of the year the city will have received approximately 19 or 20.
“Some years we’ve had none and other years we’ve had five or six,” Klassen said.
Mayor Nolan Crouse said he has heard more this year about potholes than in previous years, but not necessarily meant as criticism.
“I think what I’ve probably heard is most people will say, ‘it’s not as bad as Edmonton’ or ‘boy, I’m glad I don’t live in Edmonton,” Crouse said. “I think if I remember the stats, we’ve had more potholes than in previous years.”
Any member of the public can report a pothole to the city by calling 780-418-6066 or filling out an online form at www.stalbert.ca/pothole.
