'It's absolutely destroying cars': Pothole problems plaguing Winnipeg streets

It's pothole season in Winnipeg and drivers are taking notice.

After driving through a stretch of Goulet Street near Des Meurons Street, Ben Armstrong felt the need to stop and take a video of the road.

"It gets worse every year and now it's absolutely destroying cars," he said just as a car bottomed out behind him.

The spot is a place other drivers are also having trouble with.

"Well, I live in this part of town and let me tell you, I've never seen them so bad in my life," said Brenda Lee.

"They're bad every year, but this year they are really bad," said Kim Boote. "This morning, I saw a guy do it, and he went in, and I thought he had broken an axle he went so deep."

Winnipeg's pothole issues extend across the city.

Over on Burrin Avenue in the city's Jefferson area, Louise Ricard noticed a small hole beside her house on Sunday, which turned into a sinkhole overnight.

A pothole on Burrin Avenue in the city's Jefferson area pictured on April 10, 2023, is causing issues. (Source: Mason DePatie/CTV News Winnipeg)

She said she called 311 three times, with the City of Winnipeg coming out to place a cone in the middle of it.

"And then as it kept falling, you couldn't see the cone, so then my husband moved it over, and then he put caution tape up himself and the sandbags to hold the cone to hopefully give people a warning," said Ricard.

The City of Winnipeg said Ricard's pothole is on its emergency fix list and crews are inspecting it Monday afternoon.

"The weather this time of year makes the work tricky. That's because we can't use hot asphalt to make long-lasting repairs. Instead, our crews are making temporary patches using cold mix, an asphalt mix specifically designed for use in cold, wet weather," said a city spokesperson in an email to CTV News.

"Since this is only a temporary fix, crews may have to return several times to repair the same pothole because of wet road conditions. We typically can switch to hot asphalt by mid-May, weather permitting," they added.

A fix drivers like Boote would like to happen soon as possible.

"It would be nice if they repaved it. That's the only way I see they could fix it because every year they wash out and then they have to patch it again and they don't stay patched," said Boote.