Already overwhelmed by the tire change period, mechanics must respond to a particularly high demand related to damage caused by potholes.
“Honestly, this is the first year that we have had so many repairs to do because of this. Last week, five vehicles entered the garage in two hours because of the same hole,” says Julien Clarice, manager of the Canadian Tire garage in Sainte-Foy, Quebec.
Christian Martel, owner of the garage that bears his name in Beauport, makes the same observation. Every time five vehicles enter his facility, three have pothole damage.
“Even we have to zigzag to get to work. It’s getting worse and worse, but it’s good for us,” he laughs.
Recall that the City of Quebec received 633 reports of holes in the roadway in January and February this year, four times more than in 2021.
For its part, Montreal will have to revise its clogging budget upwards since the state of the network requires a third filling operation in as many months. If the measure is adopted, the budget will increase from $2.98 million to $3.41 million.
“Marked increase”
The problem is that this situation occurs when the mechanics are particularly busy with the period of tire changes.
Not to mention the labor shortage that also affects them, like many industries in Quebec. “As we can see, there is really a marked increase [de nids-de-poule] this spring. I would need two or three more pairs of arms to meet the demand,” confirms Aziz Ourahou of the Oasis garage in Montreal.
“We are leaning very stiffly [sic], we have a month to have the pedal to the floor. I have to work in the garage myself, ”said Éric Auclair, co-owner of the Jean-Yves Auclair garage in Quebec.