The City of Guelph Public Works department is deploying road crews on rotating shifts and extra weekend hours to fix potholes across 581 kilometres of local roads. This effort follows a harsh winter season that saw more than 200 centimetres of snowfall across the region, which created significant damage on city streets in Guelph, Ontario.
The city uses a $150,000 annual budget to manage these repairs, which are currently being handled with a temporary material called cold patch. These temporary fixes are necessary because hot asphalt plants are not yet open for the season.
While cold patch allows crews to fill holes while the ground is still wet from melting snow, the material can sometimes pop back out. This means workers may need to repeat the process until warmer weather allows for permanent fixes that require higher temperatures.
According to Terry Dooling, the manager of Public Works, teams are working extra shifts through the weekends to keep up with road damage. The city repaired over 3,200 potholes in previous years and expects a busy season due to the recent record-setting winter.
Crews prioritize busier main roads first before moving into residential neighbourhoods to address the highest traffic areas. Residents can report road damage directly to the city, which aims to respond to all reports within two business days.
