After a long winter of dealing with icy, rutted road, drivers in Halifax have a new obstacles to watch for: potholes.
Warmer temperatures have revealed thousands of them in the municipality, and repair shops are already seeing the results.
Kelvin Campbell, who owns an autobody shop, says he’s never soon so many bumpers damaged by potholes in one season.
He says drivers often don’t realize how deep a pothole actually is.
“Pay attention because if you hit a pothole and you’re not expecting it you can put your car off the road — and some of these potholes are pretty deep,” said Campbell.
“In this type of situation you're going to rip the bumper right off your car,” he said.
The annual war on potholes has already begun.
City crews have been patching since last week, and have already filled about 750 potholes.
They’re using a new, more eco-friendly type of asphalt that hardens quickly with water and seems to offer a permanent fix.
“Because we are not going back to the same hole day in and day out, that's where we see the cost effectiveness of the products we are using this year,”said Don Pellerine, superintendent of Halifax Streets and Sidewalks.
If the weather cooperates, the city’s goal is to patch about 400 potholes a week.
For some motorists, however, the damage has already been done.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kelland Sundahl
