Winnipeg’s harsh winter has wreaked havoc on streets and the city is bracing for one of the worst pothole seasons, with crews scrambling to keep up with patching.
The work started in February.
Along a stretch of Osborne Street, the road has worn away to expose old rail tracks used decades ago for streetcars, forcing motorists to drive over them.
“They shouldn’t be like that. They should be fixed properly,” said Winnipegger David Hubbard.
“I don’t think we’ve seen those in a long time. They’re dangerous to be driving over,” said Manitoban Melanie Zurba.
Ahmed Shalaby, professor of pavement engineering at the University of Manitoba, said the city needs to do a better job of sealing cracks and holes before they turn into craters on streets.
“This is coming to hurt us right. Now, there is large stock of pavement that are approaching the end of their service life and we're being challenged in how we maintain those,” said Shalaby.
The city said it does maintenance on streets and maintains the roads with major potholes are simply at the end of their lifespan and need to be replaced.
Finding the funds for the ongoing work remains a challenge, said the mayor.
“There is no secret or surprise that we have a lot of work to be done,” said Mayor Sam Katz.
Hubbard said he’s willing to pay more tax if it means keeping streets smoother.
“How else are you going to fix them?” he asked.
Based on the depth of frost this year, officials said pothole patching crews could be out working until June. Last year, work wrapped in early May, said the city.
