While it may be apparent to some drivers, the city hasn’t officially said how 2013’s pothole numbers stack up to previous years – now, officials are speculating Edmonton’s streets are in position to break records.
City road maintenance crews have been focused on repairing potholes, while they have made some progress – hundreds of thousands remain, waiting to be filled.
The city estimates there are more than 500,000 potholes that still need to be repaired.
“We are working full-out on it, hopefully by the end of this week we’ll start to see some real progress and catching up on things, and getting things in better shape,” City of Edmonton Roadway Maintenance Director Bob Dunford said.
“If we get a full week of decent temperatures, we’ll make some good progress.”
One city crew member told CTV News his team tackles hundreds of potholes, up to 400, in one day.
Dunford believes with those numbers, the craters on city streets could go on to break a record.
“We never broke the 600,000 mark,” Dunford said. “We hit about 594,000 back in 2007, I think we’ll break that this year.”
The city’s crews have been spending so much time dealing with potholes, that another seasonal project has fallen three weeks behind.
The city said Monday that spring street sweeping is behind schedule, and officials aren’t sure if they will meet their June 1 deadline.
As for drivers having to deal with potholes crews haven’t quite managed to fill yet, the Alberta Motor Association recommends drivers slow down, and not swerve when coming up to a pothole.
“Slow down, take the potholes slowly as opposed to trying to change lanes or swerve into the other lane of traffic, and you should be ok,” Don Szarko with the AMA said.
With files from Brenna Rose
