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Pothole report to sink out of sight

By: Bartley Kives

Posted: 03/10/2010 3:46 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies) | Last Modified: 03/10/2010 3:46 PM | Updates

JOE.BRYKSA@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ARCHIVES Enlarge Image

Motorists avoid massive potholes on Saskatchewan Avenue last year.

Mayor Sam Katz's inner circle has told city staff not to complete a pothole report that was ordered up almost a year ago.

City council's executive policy committee voted this morning to file an April 2009 motion that asked the public service to assess the way Winnipeg repairs potholes, examine ways to increase pothole capacity and explore the potential for pothole-patching sponsorship opportunities.

In council jargon, "filing a report" means discarding it.

On April 22, 2009, EPC asked for the report to arrive within four months. In September 2009, the committee offered the public service an extension of another four months. When that deadline passed in January, the public works department received another two-month extension.

Instead of providing a third extension this morning, EPC cancelled its request and instead expects road maintenance to be included in a new city plan to manage all of its assets.

Katz said the city has increased its pothole-patching capacity by doubling the number of patching trucks its own or leases from five to 10 vehicles. The city also spends more on roads than it ever has, the mayor said.

The city has not identified new pothole-patching technologies, but new roads could be built to last longer, Katz said. The city also has not struck any pothole-patching sponsorship deals.

After reviewing pothole-patching practices in other cities, city staff concluded the city is already using the best street-maintenance practices and materials available, public works director Brad Sacher said.

The city is experimenting with a new asphalt mix that can be applied in cold conditions, he said. But for now, the city continues to employ both hand-patching crews and pothole-patching trucks that use a hot-asphalt mix, Sacher said.

The city’s pothole-patching effort will not ramp up this year until city streets dry out. Pothole-patching mix does not set properly in moist conditions, Sacher said.

The city budgets about $1.5 million a year to patch potholes. It spent approximately $2.5 million in 2009 due to an unusual set of freeze-thaw cycles last winter.

Although it’s too soon to say whether the current spring thaw is here to stay, it is unlikely the 2010 pothole-patching bill will be as high.

The city would prefer to build new roads rather than maintain worn-out old roads, Sacher and Katz said. Maintaining all of the city’s roads would require an annual investment of $50 million to $100 million, Sacher said.

That would require access to new revenues, said Katz, repeating a longtime city plea to other levels of government.

According to the 2010 capital budget, the city plans to spend $32.4 million this year to rehabilitate regional and local streets, plus an additional $15.8 million to twin Inkster Boulevard between Keewatin Street and Brookside Boulevard and another $7.6 million to rehabilitate the Jubilee Avenue overpass at Pembina Highway.

History

Updated on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 at 3:46 PM CST:
Updated with more information.

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