Are you ready for pothole season?

YorkRegion.com
March 6, 2014
By Sean Pearce

While many municipalities brace for a bumpy pothole season, York Region says it’s ready for whatever spring holds.

The Town of Innisfil, for example, is already struggling with a number of pesky potholes and anticipates the coming spring will be among the worst in recent memory for motorists when it comes to bumps in the road. but York’s manager of roads maintenance, Joseph Petrungaro, doesn’t share that pessimistic outlook about the looming local pothole season.

One element working to York’s benefit is the fact much of the regional road system is relatively new, he said.

“That’s in our favour, plus we have staff on the roads patrolling 24 hours per day, seven days per week,” Mr. Petrungaro said. “When staff sees a pothole, they put in a work order to get it taken care of right away.”

Another potential positive is the ground has remained consistently frozen throughout this winter, unlike years prior, Mr. Petrungaro said. When the temperature fluctuates up and down and on either side of the freezing mark for a while, it results in perfect pothole conditions as it allows water to infiltrate any cracks in the asphalt, he said, explaining it’s those freeze-thaws that are especially rough on our roads because frozen water expands.

“We’ve been lucky this year,” he said. “The pothole cake-mix hasn’t really been stirred up yet.”

A good gauge of how rocky your ride is about to get is to simply look at the age and condition of the roads you use on a regular basis. Newer roads, with little to no cracking, will be more resistant to water getting under them and be less likely to sprout potholes, Mr. Petrungaro said, whereas older roads, with plenty of cracks, tend to be more prone to pothole formation.

Generally, spring, and the potholes it brings, isn’t quite as devastating to vehicles as people imagine, explained Peter Theodoropolous, a service manager with Street Brothers Auto Repair in Richmond Hill. The shop recently saw a vehicle come in with a bent rim and blown tire because of a pothole and another car arrive with a damaged lower control arm, but such cases are usually the exception rather than the rule, he said.

“You never know,” he said of what the season holds, noting a few customers do come in every year with complaints of pothole-related damage to their vehicles. People like to complain about potholes and damage does happen, he said, but it’s not an epidemic.

While he can’t point to a definite influx of cars coming in with front-end problems at this time of year, Clare Bartlett, owner of Clare’s Auto Repairs & Services in Newmarket, wouldn’t be surprised if it happened. His daily commute on Kennedy Road has been anything but a smooth ride, he said, adding Davis Drive is also in bad shape.

“I’m kind of expecting it,” Mr. Bartlett said. “The roads are rotten right now.”

In any case, another big question mark looming about the impending pothole season is just how quickly the snow will melt, Mr. Petrungaro said. All of that white stuff on the ground will turn to water and, just how quickly it does, will have a big impact on what kind of pothole season we can anticipate.

“If it goes quickly, it will be a steeper slope, but a shorter ride,” he said. “If the thaw comes in gradually, you can expect a longer pothole season.”

Want to report a pothole? Call 905-830-4444, ext. 75200 or toll-free at 1-877-464-9675, ext. 75200. You can also email your reports of potholes and other roads issues totcproadsoperationsdispatch@york.ca or dispatchto@york.ca