The big bangs: MPI warns about pothole-riddled roads
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/03/2025 (540 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Manitoba roads are so bad, the provincial Crown insurer is running advertisements warning drivers to slow down.
A Manitoba Public Insurance billboard on Waverley Street and Abinoji Mikanah cautions drivers to “coast over potholes, roll slow” in the midst of the spring melt when roads crumble and craters are formed.
INSTAGRAM MPI is running a social media campaign advising Manitoba drivers to be safe during the upcoming thaw.
“Unfortunately, that’s the environment we live in… potholes are inevitable in this climate,” said MPI spokesperson Tara Seel.
“Because they’re inevitable, we wanted people to be safe and cause the least amount of damage to their vehicles.”
The billboard campaign is paired with a social media drive that advises Manitoba drivers to be safe during the upcoming thaw.
“‘Thunk thunk.’ Every Manitoban knows the unmistakable sound of hitting a pothole. It is inevitable: springtime in Manitoba = roads with potholes,” reads a social media post paired with a photo of a car driving toward a water-logged road cavity.
Seel said 2024 was a record year for pothole claims and repairs, so MPI is trying to do its part to keep drivers out of repair shops.
MPI received 5,159 pothole claims in 2024, soaring past the 2,438 claims filed in 2023.
From the start of this year to March 26, 1,063 pothole claims have been filed with the Crown insurer.
Seel said the campaign wasn’t spurred by the jump in MPI claims, which contributed to a $130-million loss for the corporation in the 2023-24 fiscal year.
“We know that (potholes are) out there and we want people to do their part in keeping the roads safe,” she said.
Since the start of the year, the City of Winnipeg has received 1,380 pothole reports and filled 33,587 of them. In 2024, crews filled in an unprecedented 357,131 potholes, a rise of nearly 115,000 from the 242,362 that were plugged one year earlier.
Chris Grossmueller, co-owner of Winnipeg Wheel Works repair shop on Gunn Road, has been busy doing about 25 wheel alignments per day, which is still fewer than the 80 they did per day in 2024.
A decade ago, the shop would do 10 alignments a day.
“Being ‘busy’ is putting it mildly,” he quipped.
He recommends drivers keep their winter tires in service until all threat of winter weather has gone because summer tires are more susceptible to damage. They have less rubber to absorb the impact of potholes and most rims are made of aluminum, which bend easier than the steel rims on winter tires.
“It gives us a bit of relief with all the requests,” Grossmueller said.
In tandem with the MPI ads, the Canadian Automobile Association is running its “Worst Roads” campaign on billboards across the city. The signs show cars driving over potholes and cracked pavement to encourage residents to nominate what they believe is the worst road in the province.
RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS
CAA is running its “Worst Roads” campaign on billboards and encouraging residents to nominate what they believe is the worst road in the province.
“We know the campaign works… we’ve seen governments commit,” said Ewald Friesen, manager of government and community relations at CAA.
Last year, 18th Street in Brandon, a major artery in the city, was voted Manitoba’s worst road. A few months after CAA unveiled its dubious award, the provincial government set aside $9.7 million to resurface it.
A large section of Empress Street — which was voted the worst road in 2018 and 2019 — was repaired in 2020.
The Manitoba government’s budget for 2025-26 includes $809 million for transportation and infrastructure projects, including a new interchange on the Perimeter Highway and the twinning of a stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near the Ontario border.
The City of Winnipeg has allotted $1 billion for road renewal over the next six years, including $169.3 million this year for repairs, active transportation and road safety projects.
“It looks like our advocacy, with the help of Manitobans… is really getting the word out that Manitobans care deeply about the state of our roads,” Friesen said.
RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS
A Manitoba Public Insurance billboard on Waverley Street and Abinoji Mikanah cautions drivers to “coast over potholes”.
In conjunction with the worst roads campaign, CAA conducted a recent survey of 1,014 CAA members that shows 96 per cent of respondents are concerned about the state of our roads; 84 per cent believe roads are not repaired in a timely fashion; and 61 per cent say the problem is getting worse.
Half of the respondents said their vehicles had sustained damage due to craters in the road and 80 per cent didn’t file an insurance claim and paid for the repairs out of pocket.
The average repair cost was $882 and nearly half of the respondents paid between $500 and $2,000, with some claims climbing as high as $6,000 depending on the make and model of the vehicle.
In 2022, CAA began offering additional auto insurance coverage that wasn’t available in Manitoba, including tire pothole and puncture protection.
MPI advises drivers to scan the road ahead and avoid sudden manoeuvres. When a pothole is unavoidable, it is best to drive over it while slowing down, holding on to the steering wheel tightly and coasting over the crater. Refrain from applying the brakes.
nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca
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Nicole Buffie
Multimedia producer
Nicole Buffie is a reporter for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom as a multimedia producer in 2023. Read more about Nicole.
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