No more quick fixes: mayor

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Just patching potholes, like this one on St. James Street, is no longer an option. (WAYNE.GLOWACKI@FREEPRESS.MB.CA )

The City of Winnipeg has abandoned a plan to find better ways to patch potholes in favour of trying to improve the way it maintains all of its roads, bridges, sewers and other assets.

During the spring of 2009, when Winnipeg suffered through its worst pothole season in recent memory, city council's executive policy committee asked the public works department to assess the way it patches potholes and consider ways to speed up the job.

The pothole report failed to come back to EPC in September and again in January. So on Wednesday, Mayor Sam Katz's inner circle voted to forget about it and allow the public works department more time to develop a broader "asset management system" instead.

"Pothole patching is temporary. Everyone has to realize it's a Band-Aid..." Katz told reporters. "We're getting to the point where repairing is not an option. It's time to address the real problem: The decay of our roads. We need some major work done."

Winnipeg sets aside $1.5 million every year to patch potholes, using hand-patching crews to fill serious trouble spots temporarily and pothole-patching trucks to spray hot asphalt for a slightly longer-lasting fix.

But last year, when an ice storm and an unusual set of freeze-thaw cycles played havoc with roads, the city spent $2.5 million on patching. That led EPC to ask the public works department to look for a better way to fix potholes and find sponsors to help pay for it.

The sponsorship effort went nowhere, public works director Brad Sacher said. Although his department did not complete a pothole report, it concluded it was already doing the best possible job of patching potholes, based on what works in other Canadian cities.

"What we found out is we are using state-of-the-art practices with potholes," Sacher said. "The methodology we're using right now has given us the best bang for our buck."

Right now, only hand-patching crews are out on Winnipeg streets, filling the worst potential axle-breakers. Up to 12 city-owned and leased pothole trucks will follow, once city streets are dry enough to allow hot asphalt to set.

The city is also experimenting with a new form of cold-setting asphalt, but its effectiveness has yet to be determined. The public works department has also hired a consultant to recommend what types of pavement are ideal for Winnipeg's climate.

Winnipeg's older streets have a concrete base that's covered with asphalt, making it easy for moisture to seep in and create potholes during freeze-thaw cycles, Sacher said.

The fact that Winnipeg has one of the world's most extreme climates contributes to the pothole problem, he added.

Instead of patching potholes, Winnipeg must radically increase its annual road-maintenance budget, Sacher said.

An additional $50 million to $100 million a year needs to be added to an annual road-maintenance budget that sits at $32.4 million this year for regional and local streets. The city is also spending $15.8 million to twin part of Inkster Boulevard and $7.6 million to rehabilitate the Jubilee Avenue overpass.

Repeating his frequent plea for more funding from other levels of government, Katz said Winnipeg needs help increasing its road-maintenance budget. But he also said Winnipeg should take the initiative, hinting that the city may borrow money to repair roads while interest rates are low.

"We need to come up with a significant amount of money and that's something we're working on," Katz said.

The construction industry will be able to handle the work if the city slowly ramps up its maintenance budget, Sacher said.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca

The pothole thickens

EPC's direction to public works, April 2009: Assess the resources it devotes to patching potholes. Consider new technologies. Examine how other Canadian cities repair potholes. Look for potential sponsors. Report back in four months.

EPC's direction to public works, March 2010: Forget about that pothole report. Come up with a list of all city roads, bridges, sewers and other assets. Come up with a way to evaluate their condition. Figure out how to determine their replacement costs. Report back in six months.

Crying in your beer?

Last weekend, Winnipeg's Half Pints Brewing Co. released a strong seasonal beer it calls Pothole Porter, inspired by the city's streets during the spring. Here's how the brewery explains the initiative:

"As you all know, we're famous here in 'Peg City for potholes that could swallow your leg (or a car) and Half Pints loves to celebrate our oddities with this tongue-in-cheek beer, featuring the tag line, 'stare into the abyss.'

"This year's Pothole is aged with toasted oak spirals and has a lovely dark-chocolate finish. It's just right for soothing your nerves after the drive home, where it's entirely possible you tried to jerk the wheel like a madman while avoiding your rush-hour neighbour's door panels by a half an inch. And if by chance you're one of those tail-gating, cellphone-yapping, text-sending morons, now is the time the rest of us get our sweet revenge because you can't see the crater-sized opening in the earth below your soon to be replaced front axle. Victory is sweet so we raise this glass of black darkness to you!"

-- Sources: 2010 capital budget, 2010 preliminary operating budget, public works director Brad Sacher, city clerk's department, Half Pints Brewing Co.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 11, 2010 B1