Here’s why the City of Saskatoon has been delayed in addressing wave of potholes

City crews are hard at work on the spring pothole blitz. They're facing a glut of road damage following a prolonged freeze-thaw cycle this spring.

The City of Saskatoon says pothole repair efforts have been hampered this spring due to a harsh winter and prolonged freeze thaw cycles.

“We have unfortunately lost a couple of weeks due to poor weather, but we’re in good shape now,” noted Cam LeClaire, roadways manager for the City of Saskatoon.

More than 3,700 potholes have been reported so far this year, according to the city.

The figure represents an increase of more than 2,000 when compared with the same period last year.

The city is ramping up pothole repairs with additional crews and contractors.

That effort in addressing the backlog began on Monday.

LeClaire says at any given time there will be 13 pothole patching crews working.

“So, the conditions of the streets that you see now should improve significantly over the coming weeks,” he said.

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All those additional potholes are leading drivers to places like A1 Tire & Wheel to repair damaged wheels and blown out tires.

Service advisor Chris Premech says the last three or four years has been steady business for wheel replacement, but this year has seen a drastic uptick in demand.

“Over the last month, I don’t think there’s been a day that’s gone by where we haven’t had at least three, four or five people come in to swap out wheels that were damaged in a pothole or on a curb,” he said in addition to the 100 appointments the company fills daily.

As drivers do their best to weave and avoid the roadway craters, Premech sees them a little different than most.

“I see a lot of headaches. I see long days, but what do you do? It’s Saskatoon. We’re used to it, but sometimes you just can’t avoid them.”

Potholes form when moisture seeps into cracks in the pavement, freezes and expands which causes the asphalt to break apart. Traffic passing over the damaged areas can quickly make the holes larger.

The city says crews have already used nearly 400 tonnes of asphalt since hot-mix material became available at the start of May. Last year the city used roughly 2,200 tonnes of asphalt for pothole patching by the end of the season, which was an increase from the previous year. LeClaire expects to surpass that figure this year.

The city says emergency potholes are marked as high priority and are typically repaired within 24 to 72 hours, weather permitting.

Residents can report potholes through the city’s online map, where they can also track repair status.