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Driving in Saskatoon could get bumpy as potholes have made a famous return to the roads of the Bridge City.
But some drivers think the roads aren’t too bad, compared to previous years.
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“They’re not as bad as I’ve seen them in recent years,” said Brett Williams. “There are still a couple that have popped out that are really hard.”
Williams said he has noticed a few roads that are in rough shape.
“I know there’s a big one (pothole) in Stonebridge,” he said. “There are a couple of big ones on 8th street, the biggest ones I’ve noticed are on Spadina. There have been a couple of big ones there, especially for bike tires.”
Pothole and broken down road on 8th Street and Saskatchewan Crescent (Will Mandzuk/650CKOM)
Ashley Vinewood commutes to Saskatoon for work and agrees that a lot of the main roads are bad for potholes.
“Warman road is terrible, Circle Drive is pretty bad, you’re kind of all over the place and it makes you look like drunk drivers,” she laughed.
Vinewood said pothole season will never be good, but she has noticed they aren’t as bad this year.
“They’re always worse after spring, it’s Saskatchewan, isn’t it?” she said.
“I don’t think it’s worse at all, I think our roads in general are getting worse over the years, I don’t think they’re getting fixed quick enough and that’s the problem too.”
Pothole on College Drive before getting onto the University Bridge (Will Mandzuk/650CKOM)
Goran Saric, Director of Roadways, said the city has noticed a decrease in potholes.
“Even though crews have identified potholes in many streets with some experiencing more significant issues than others, this year fewer potholes are being reported than last year at this time.”
The city believes the more stable snow melt this spring led to fewer potholes in the road.
From January 1st to April 24, 1,139 potholes have been reported; in a similar time frame last year, 1,287 were reported.
These potholes were reported through the city’s report-a-pothole map on its website.
Saric said that’s a program that really helps city efforts to fixing all potholes.
“It definitely complements our own internal regular surveillance by the supervisors,” he said. “Our supervisors, as part of their duties, monitor and identify potholes.”
Saric said city crews are out and repairing potholes.
“We mobilized more crews just in anticipation of potentially having a larger number of potholes,” he said. “We are maintaining an aggressive approach to fixing potholes and maintaining safety.”
Robert Scott, Owner of Glenwood Auto Service, said they’ve seen a few cars come into the shop with pothole damage.
“Since the middle of March, we’ve probably had eight or nine so far,” he said.
Scott said the wheels, rims, and tire rod are the most likely parts to be damaged by a pothole.
As for what vehicles can survive potholes, Scott said bigger is better.
“Trucks with their larger, wider tires might be a little better off,” he said. “A vehicle like a little Toyota Prius or a Toyota Yaris, those cars can be almost swallowed by a pothole.”
Scott’s message to drivers is to do your best to avoid potholes and not to go over them at high speeds.
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