‘Soupy mess:’ Moose Jaw resident fed up with potholes, ice on roads

The wheels and tires of vehicles are constantly turning in Moose Jaw to avoid potholes and icy snow ridges.

Resident John Hope has had enough.

“We’ve got roads that have deep potholes, roads that haven’t been plowed since the snow or not at all,” he said. “It’s just mind-boggling.”

Hope talked to 980 CJME while standing at the corner of 9th Avenue SW and Brenda Street — and cars cruising by come to a quick halt to manoeuvre around numerous potholes.

“Last year, there was a big hump in the road, and there was a seam that was cracking along the way,” Hope explained. “You can see they’ve done some repairs, but there are still big, giant, gaping holes.”

Potholes cover 9th Avenue SW in Moose Jaw. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

He said the people of Moose Jaw are not getting the appropriate level of service from the city.

“People pay a lot of property tax, and they’re not getting the service that they used to get,” he said. “I’ve been out here for 10 years, and I’ve seen a slow decline in the infrastructure. It gets worse every year.”

He said the city’s new mayor James Murdock has a big job ahead of him.

Main streets with heavy traffic also have potholes, like Fairford St W near the city’s police station. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

The 4th Avenue bridge is also a problem spot says Hope.

On top of the potholes, the constant freeze and thawing of snow makes some roads even more treacherous, specifically in residential areas.

Hope got stuck in the city because of this.

“I couldn’t go anywhere because there was two or three inches of water and just pure ice,” he said.

“I had police come and give me a hand, they couldn’t get me out. I had a buddy come by and (they) couldn’t get me out.”

Some residential streets in Moose Jaw are filled with frozen ruts of snow, making driving difficult. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

Hope had to call a tow truck to get his vehicle out.

“Why do I have to pay for recovery in the middle of the road? I mean, that doesn’t make any sense. You call city hall and nobody seems to be accountable,” he said.

Hope has tried to contact the city but said he hasn’t heard much.

“I got the magical merry-go-round and a lot of voicemails.”

With the spring melt approaching, Hope is concerned with the amount of water all over town.

“Saskatchewan is a land of 1,000 lakes, but that’s ridiculous,” he said with a laugh.

“It’s a soupy mess. There’s water everywhere and stuff is not getting done. I keep getting told, ‘We’re working on it. We’re working on it.’ Well, I don’t see anybody out there, except maybe one or two vehicles doing a little bit of this or that.”

A giant puddle behind the Scotia Bank on Main Street in Moose Jaw. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

Hope’s main question to the city of Moose Jaw is “what is going on?”, but he remains hopeful that improvements will come.

An icy sidewalk in downtown Moose Jaw. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

City of Moose Jaw crews working on issues

In a statement, the City of Moose Jaw said crews are aware of the problems.

“Crews have shifted snow clearing efforts to focus on clearing catch basins and storm sewer drains in flood-prone areas due to the melting temperatures,” it said.

In the following weeks, support crews will work on clearing “culverts of snow, ice and debris, and storm sewer outfalls will be cleared where access is available.”

More information on this process can be found on the city’s website.

The city also encourages residents to use its ‘Report an Issue’ function on its website and free app, saying this is the quickest and easiest way to alert staff of issues.

“Residents can provide information by clicking on this feature and then selecting ‘Streets & Roads’ and ‘Drainage Issues’ to report potholes or pooling water,” it said.

“Once a location is selected on the map, they can then begin to enter more information about the issue, including attaching a photo and any additional information city staff should be aware of.”

The submissions are then assessed by staff and put into a priority system. Repairs are scheduled based on several factors like severity, location and traffic volumes.