Nightmare for motorists, potholes are fewer and fewer on the metropolitan road network, according to the latest report from the City of Montreal. A portrait that remains dependent on increasingly extreme winter weather conditions.
Since the beginning of 2013, the City of Montreal has repaired more than 111,000 potholes on its territory, a figure higher than the previous year, with 96,800 potholes repaired, but still even significantly below the annual average for 2017, 2018 and 2019 with 176,461 plugged holes per year.
According to Philippe Sabourin, spokesperson for the City of Montreal, the increase in 2023 compared to 2022 is attributable “to a particularly difficult winter”. “We had 30 cm more [de neige] than usual and more temperature fluctuations and that usually causes more potholes,” he says.
Despite this increase, the figures clearly indicate a downward trend, “an improvement made possible thanks to investments in road works”, maintains Philippe Sabourin. Montreal has also adopted a plan of 880.6 million over 10 years (2023-2032) in “planing-surfacing programs aimed at extending the useful life of pavements and avoiding the proliferation of potholes” .
The City estimates that 30% of its streets are “in poor condition”, according to its spokesperson.
Fewer potholes also mean fewer complaints, notes the City. Since the beginning of the year, Montreal has received 3,600 complaints for holes in the roadway, while there were 5,400 the previous year. In 2019, the City had received 8,000 complaints on this subject.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
For approximately 5 years, the City has had Python 5000 vehicles that allow pothole repairs to be carried out more quickly. Montreal has four Python 5000 trucks and uses the services of a subcontractor with eight other similar vehicles.
A single driver behind the wheel of such a vehicle can repair up to 300 potholes a day. Since the beginning of the year, six repair operations have taken place with the 12 vehicles available to the City.
Each hole is also geolocated during the operation, allowing the authorities to better monitor the tracks that have been repaired. “It just takes one operator, it’s safer, it’s faster,” points out Philippe Sabourin.