As spring temperatures arrive, so too do the potholes.
You may have noticed the craters of all sizes that have opened up on roads, from subdivisions to the rural lines, as some milder weather has entered the Innisfil area over the last week or so. Well, town roads crews have, also.
“The Town of Innisfil’s road patrol and crews monitor roads and identify areas that are deficient and do repairs accordingly,” operations director Nicole Bowman said. “At this time of year, potholes can be difficult to manage as ideally, repairs, which include patch mix and packing, are best done when the temperature is above 15 degrees Celsius and the roads are dry. There are occasions where a pothole can reoccur, and town crews will continue to repair until temperature and weather conditions allow for a more durable fix.”
With more than 700 kilometres of roadway to maintain in the municipality and inconsistent freeze-thaw cycles becoming the new norm in the winter, roads crews are frequently out patching at this time of the year.
However, they do stop for a bit to plow snow, remove fallen trees, pump water from flooded streets, and grade and add dust suppression to the town’s 75 km of gravel roads. But filling — using a cold patch of tar-and-chip treatment in wintertime, and then switching to asphalt once the warmer weather arrives — is at the core of what the municipality's more than 20 full-time roads employees do.
Innisfil, like other Ontario municipalities, must adhere to provincially mandated minimum maintenance standards. These requirements also set patrol expectations, maximum pothole sizes that trigger repairs and the time frames crews have to respond to reported road deficiencies.
On paved roadways, municipalities have between four and 30 days, depending on the class of road, to make repairs to qualifying potholes. Limits range from seven to 30 days for non-paved roads, and seven to 60 days for paved and non-paved shoulders.
Innisfil does try to respond within a couple days though.
“The town’s operation team endeavours to repair potholes quickly, but at the same time, have to be mindful of other factors such as winter maintenance and flooding priorities,” Bowman said.
To report a pothole, call the town’s customer service line at 705-436-3710 or use the Resident Observation Portal.