Andy Dickie’s pothole patrol never really comes to an end.
We may think of spring as “pothole season,” but the Town of Innisfil operations department field supervisor says reality dictates that, with more than 700 kilometres of roadway to maintain in the municipality and inconsistent freeze-thaw cycles becoming the new norm in the winter, roads crews are frequently out patching — to the tune of about 2,500 over the course of a year.
Yeah, they may stop for a bit to plow snow, remove fallen trees, pump water from flooded streets or grade and add dust suppression to the town’s 75 kilometres of gravel roads.
But filling — using a cold patch of tar-and-chip treatment in wintertime, and then switching to asphalt once the warmer weather arrives — is at the core of what the town’s 21 full-time roads employees do.
“Every week, we have a different patrol,” Dickie said. “Once a hole is reported (at) a certain size and depth, we have a certain time to get out and fill those holes. Between the patrols and people reporting to our customer service team, we get out there. Ninety-nine per cent of the time, we’re out within our time frame.
"It’s a constant chase. They’re not just patching potholes; they’re doing everything.”
Like other Ontario municipalities, Innisfil must adhere to provincially mandated minimum maintenance standards. These requirements also set patrol expectations, maximum pothole sizes that trigger repairs and the time frames crews have to respond to reported road deficiencies.
On paved roadways, municipalities have between four and 30 days, depending on the class of road, to make repairs to qualifying potholes. Limits range from seven to 30 days for non-paved roads, and seven to 60 days for paved and non-paved shoulders.
But Innisfil crews actually try to respond to complaints within one to two days, Dickie said.
“Usually, you have your big, thick frost and a one-month period … This year, it’s coming in and out. It’s been so wet this spring that it’s definitely affected everything. The ground’s just saturated. When it’s wet like that, it’s flexible and it moves.”
Dickie is asking residents to be respectful of crews and slow down as they pass work areas.
“It is insane, the speed of traffic,” he said. “Nobody cares that we’re out there. They all want to complain about the hole, but they don’t want to give us the time of day and space on the road to actually get the holes filled. Every day, we’re having near misses, which makes it more difficult for us to get them filled. Safety is our hardest battle right now.”
To report a pothole, call the town’s customer service line at 705-436-3710.
