The City of Winnipeg could soon divert money and staff from other projects to fix a massive number of potholes, a problem blamed on wild weather and worn-out roads.
City crews filled 179,620 potholes this year so far, as of July 1, including 13,378 filled since June 21. The city filled 98,015 potholes by about the same point in 2023, compared to 134,908 during the same period of 2022, 56,883 in 2021 and 77,932 in 2020.
The chairwoman of council’s public works committee said those numbers count some potholes repaired more than once, after rain washed filler materials away.
MIKE SUDOMA / FREE PRESS FILES
The city does not track repairs per pothole, so it’s not clear how many potholes were filled more than once.
“There (are) two factors (for why) they’re popping out. One, it’s very, very wet and two … we’re basically putting a filling on a rotten tooth. A lot of these roads are really old and even when they are dry, the adherence of the tar to whatever material is underneath, which is old, falling apart material, isn’t that great,” said Coun. Janice Lukes (Waverley West).
The councillor said repeated freeze-thaw cycles in the winter, followed by an extremely wet spring and early summer have wreaked havoc on the aging roads, straining the city’s ability to keep up with repairs.
City officials are now assessing which public works projects they could postpone to catch up on pothole filling without adding to the overall budget, she said.
“Maybe it means less concrete curb (repairs), maybe it means less of something else … We’re looking at what we can adjust to continue (fixing) potholes, making sure we’ve got the staff to do it and the funding to get it done,” said Lukes.
The councillor said she’d also support increasing staff overtime hours to get more repairs completed sooner.
Lukes noted her own relatives saw multiple tires destroyed this year, while Mayor Scott Gillingham’s communications director recently suffered two flat tires due to craters in the road.
Lukes said she’s not aware of any pothole filling product that is not affected by wet weather, so the city can’t simply switch to a different option.
“There’s a lot of repeat filling (of) the potholes there because of the rain, because it’s wet. So, for them to adhere, it’s a challenge and we fill them but often they pop out,” said Lukes.
“I recognize it’s a very bad problem. It damages vehicles, it’s dangerous and so we need to address the condition of our roads.”–Mayor Scott Gillingham
The mayor also blamed the problem on an especially wet year.
“This has been a really unique year. We had a warm, mild winter, which meant more potholes sooner in the year … The wet weather that we’ve had, both the spring and early summer, has made it really difficult for the potholes to be filled and, when they are filled, for them to remain filled,” said Gillingham.
He noted a tire rim on his vehicle was damaged by a pothole earlier this year.
“I recognize it’s a very bad problem. It damages vehicles, it’s dangerous and so we need to address the condition of our roads,” said Gillingham.
This year, Manitoba Public Insurance received 2,885 pothole-related damage claims for incidents in Winnipeg by July 4, more than the 1,758 filed throughout 2023. Over the past five years, the most Winnipeg claims took place in 2022, when 4,451 were reported.
MPI spokeswoman Kristy Rydz said the amount of damage covered depends on the circumstances of each incident and the age of the vehicle or parts involved, with customers expected to pay at least their deductible.
John Vernaus, owner of Vernaus Auto Body, suspects claim numbers will continue to grow as drivers become more aware they can get insurance coverage to pay for some pothole damage.
He said drivers sometimes have little choice to avoid deep cracks in the road, even though they know hitting them can cause considerable damage.
“You don’t want to have to drive in a pothole but you’re forced to or (you might) side-sweep somebody and do more damage. There’s only so much you can do to move away from it sometimes,” Vernaus said.
He said pothole repairs can be expensive, sometimes coming close to the average collision claim of $4,900.
“It can reach that very quickly, if you hit the bumper at the bottom or damage a wheel,” said Vernaus.
He’s now fixing pothole damage to a Mercedes that will likely cost about $6,000 to repair.
A City of Winnipeg spokeswoman said Winnipeg received about five times more rain over the past three months than it did during the same period last year, with 297 mm of precipitation over 29 days in 2024, compared to 73 mm over 13 days in 2023.
In an email, Julie Horbal Dooley said “dramatic rise in rainfall” increased water infiltration that weakens road structure, interrupted repair work and made repairs less effective.
“Rain washing pothole fill away occurs more with cold mix, which we use prior to summer. That said, even with hot mix, rain tends to weaken filled potholes if they do not have enough dry time to cure. If it is not cured, rain with the traffic would push the filling materials out. Water will also cause a weak bond between the filling material and the hole edges,” Horbal Dooley wrote.
The city does not track repairs per pothole, so it’s not clear how many potholes were filled more than once.
Due to changes in record keeping over the years, Horbal Dooley said it’s not clear if the number of potholes repaired this year sets a record.
joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca
X: @joyanne_pursaga
Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter
Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.
Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.