Sudbury crews patch potholes a little earlier this year

With spring approaching, Sudbury’s small construction crews are already out repairing potholes, getting ahead of the usual schedule.

Small construction crews have been out in Greater Sudbury, doing what they can to patch potholes before the spring thaw comes into full effect.

Joe Rocca with the City of Greater Sudbury said crews are on the lookout 24 hours a day in winter.

“They’re patrolling roads and looking for problems on the road,” Rocca said.

“They’re identifying potholes as they come up. The pothole crews, as we find problems, will dispatch the crews to go repair them.”

Ward 7 Coun. Natalie Labbée said she hasn’t heard many complaints so far this winter.

“I haven’t had a lot of concerns,” Labbée said.

“From things that I’ve seen on social media … people are relatively pleased that they’re seeing the crews out in advance and so much earlier than we’re used to.”

Rocca urges residents to report potholes to 311 and not to assume the city knows about them, especially as the weather gets warmer in March and April.

How bad problems get depends, not surprisingly, on the weather. Warm temperatures followed by freezing temperatures do the most damage.

“With potholes, we really just have to see what happens,” he said.

“It will really depend on how many freeze-thaw cycles we have over the winter. Every time it gets warm during the day and that snow melts, and water gets into the cracks in the road at night, when it gets cold again, it starts to freeze, and it pops the asphalt.”

The city has been deploying it Python 5000 pothole repair vehicle for the last few years in hopes of making the repair process quicker and easier.

However, since its purchase in 2021, the machine has had several issues and has performed well below expectations.

Can’t keep it on the road

“We’ve had some challenges in keeping it on the road,” Rocca said.

“So we’re at a point now where we’re (asking), does it still make sense to continue trying to use that piece of equipment, or can we reinvest those funds into other alternative methods?”

Labbée said potholes are a perennial concern for residents in Sudbury, and they’re emerging earlier this year than normal.

“But our city crews are on it,” she said.

“They’ve got extra contractors that are out and they’re following those standards. I’m really pleased to say that council also added an extra $56 million into fixing roads and just mitigating those potholes.”

Rocca said the winter repairs are temporary because of the cold and wet conditions. During the summer months, the city completes a higher-quality patch when weather permits.