Bumpy spring blamed on bad winter with surge in pothole problems

The extreme weather events this fall and winter are coming back to bite us this spring, with pothole problems popping up in Metro Vancouver.

Crews have been working to fill them as they see them, or rather feel them, but many of the fixes had to be temporary as the more permanent solutions are weather-dependent.

Spring, which is usually crunch time for crews, looked a lot more like fall with unseasonably cold temperatures and consistent heavy rain.

Darren Ell with Mainroad Lower Mainland Contracting, which is responsible for highways such as Highway 99, Highway 1, and more, says drivers can expect a smoother ride soon with the weather finally cooperating.

“We expected to be starting three weeks ago but unfortunately because of the cold [and] wet weather we’ve had to delay a couple of times. But at least we started now and we’re crossing our fingers [that] we’re gonna have some decent weather for the next four to six weeks,” he said.

With many motorists likely to see some improvements as early as next month.

“For the most part, most of the patches are in decent shape.

“We’ve actually started our annual grind and pave program where we go and do a more permanent fix to grind out the asphalt and do a hot mix repair… So we’re in that process right now completing those cleanup and more permanent fixes,” Ell said.

One of the worst pothole seasons in years

ICBC says these aren’t just a little bump in the road, as potholes can cause significant damage to the vehicle. The insurer has seen a spike in claims, well above the four-year average in recent months, with 546 claims between February and May. The same period normally sees about 350.

“For avoiding road hazards such as potholes, we advise drivers to reduce their speed and increase their following distance. The more time you have to react to any hazard, such as a pothole, the better,” ICBC told CityNews.

However, for some motorists and depending on where the pothole is, that can be unavoidable, and it can have expensive consequences.

While insurance can cover the costs to fix your vehicle, collision claims impact a customer’s insurance premiums in most cases.

Major re-paving set to start in Surrey

If you noticed more potholes in Surrey than last year, you aren’t alone.

Surrey Street Manager Matt Brown says the repair work has been non-stop this year.

“We see typically 1,700 service requests for potholes, and we’re over 4,000, so it’s over double,” Brown said.

In Surrey, the biggest pain is the King George/Fraser Highway stretch, and that’s going to be a focus moving ahead now that the weather is improving, Matt Brown says.

He says all of those requests have been dealt with but bad May weather has pushed back the more permanent fixes like re-paving projects a bit.

“They unfortunately can’t do a full permanent repair, so we do a repair that is suitable to drive on so you’re not going to be damaging your vehicle, but a more permanent fix, where we re-pave the road will typically done in June, July, August, September depending on when the good weather is,” Brown said.

The City of Surrey approved a massive multi-million dollar funding boost in March to re-pave some hard-hit routes this summer, and motorists will likely welcome the improvements.

To those who are complaining about poor roads or flat tires, the message is clear, ‘see something, say something.’

“We do repair potholes as soon as we hear about them, and again, sometimes the temporary repairs don’t work in inclement weather, but if you see an area where we have repaired and it has popped out again, please reach out to us,” Brown said.

Vancouver asks residents to report pothole problems

The City of Vancouver is urging the same of residents, to report any hazardous holes as soon as they are spotted.

“City crews generally attend to a pothole within four to five days of receiving a request,” Director of Streets Eric Mital said.

Mital estimates they’ve seen well above 10,000 potholes since January, but at this point, crews are caught up and he hasn’t seen a slow down because of the recent weather.

“Repairs have been going well, in the first quarter of the year, we reallocated some some of our staff to focus on potholes and and repairs related to the weather that we had. But as of today, we’re caught up with that kind of maintenance work and we don’t currently have a significant backlog of pothole repairs,” Mital said.

While pothole complaints may have died down, there is still a lot of rumination from motorists about the bumps on Broadway in East Vancouver through to the City Centre area, but Mital says unfortunately there aren’t a lot crews can do right now because the problems are due to the Broadway Skytrain plan.

“There is, you know, some impact to the overall condition of the roadway. You’ll see some major rehabilitation happening when some of the station work is complete,” he said.

Get ready for the smell of asphalt 

It’s not just the Lower Mainland that has been hard-hit by the extreme weather, as many remember, the majority of Southern B.C.’s routes were shutdown due to the historic November rain storm. The province is promising those in the Interior can also look forward to a smoother ride in the coming months, as work is starting on more than 450 kilometres of highways and side roads.

“As we continue our recovery from the dramatic effects of recent climate-related events, maintaining road infrastructure is more important than it’s ever been,” said Rob Fleming, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure. “Resurfacing projects provide good-paying jobs, protect our vital transportation corridors and ensure people and emergency services can get where they need to go.”