'There's more potholes than road:' Sudburians weigh-in on winter road conditions

The number of calls to the City of Greater Sudbury in January regarding potholesnearly doubledover last year but the city says the problem is status quo on the roads.

More than 300 people called the city to report a pothole last month, almost150 more calls than were received in January 2017.

Tony De Silva, the city's road operations engineer, said multiple freeze-thaw cycles have wreaked havoc on city streets this winter.

But the problem itself, Da Silva said, is about thesame as other years.

"We're dealing with potholes as we have in previous years," Da Silva said. "There's no real surprises. I think we're keeping on top of it as much as we can."

Major roads a priority for repair, city says

In addition to its 311 information line, the municipality has a crew of road workers that patrols city streets looking for potholes and puttingthem on a list for repair.

They city added that, "typically, busy roads, such as the Kingsway and Paris Street, receive quicker pothole repairs than roads with less traffic," in accordance with the province's Minimum Maintenance Standards.

In 2017, the City spent nearly $400,000more than the $2,419,799budgeted for its Mill and Pave pothole prevention program.

"Only portions of road surfaces are repaired under this program instead of complete road sections," noted a city spokesperson in an email. "However, additional infrastructure projects during the regular construction season also help mitigate pothole formation in the winter and spring."

But Steve Poyner, a Sudbury mechanic, said lately he's seeing much more of the typical damages potholes can cause to vehicles: bent rims, torn-up tires and bent front-end suspensions.

"It is worse than it normally is," Poyner said. "Just because of the way the weather's been changing, it's been poppin'asphalt and poppin'bigger holes."

'More potholes than road'

Linda Batistoni, a Sudbury driver, said potholes pose a challenge this time of year.

"You're going down Regent [Street], all these areas, oh my God,someone's going to call me for drunk driving," she said. "You're dodging these [potholes], it's brutal."

Another Sudbury driver, Mitch Chaperon added "there's more potholes than road."

The city is asking that concerned drivers call 311 to help them identify problem potholes.

Meanwhile, Poyner is offering his own advice:

"Yell at the councillors to get your roads fixed but not too loud, because I need the business."

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