Pothole problems continue to plague Halifax

It's still pothole season and the nearly 1,000 road craters in Halifax are causing a lot of problems for commuters.

The pothole problem is keeping those in the vehicle repair industry busy.

“We’re seeing a lot more pothole damage to vehicles, tires, rims, that sort of thing,” said Peter McFetridge, assistant manager at Coast Tire on Young Street in Halifax. “It’s been quite a season for that for sure.”

Melvin Burns is a machinist in Dartmouth and says he’s never had so many requests for rim repairs.

Burns says fluctuating temperatures this winter has a part to play in the bumpy roads.

“We’ve had a crazy cycle of frost and thaw this year, that just drove potholes crazy,” said Burns who owns Rod’s Machine Shop in Dartmouth.

But he says the amount of damage he’s seeing on some rims is unprecedented.

“Obviously the degree of the potholes and the severity of the potholes and the depth of them has a part to play,” said Burns. “But I also think there’s a lot of people running with inadequate tire pressure.”

Halifax has nearly 1000 potholes on its repair list, and 467 of those are on the city’s priority list.

“Priority one potholes are categorized as any crater or any pothole that is at least 25 cm in diameter and 8 cm in depth,” said HRM spokesperson Ryan Nearing.

HRM expects to spend more than $1 million on repairing potholes. Since the winter, the municipality has already repaired 2,761 of them.

With that number of potholes, mechanics aren’t surprised to still be busy with repairs at this time of year.

“We’ve been seeing it all year and there doesn’t seem to be any end to it,” said McFetridge. “Not in the near future anyway.”

Halifax reminds residents to report potholes to Halifax.ca or through 3-1-1. They estimate a pothole repair can take anywhere from seven to 21 days to complete.