Weekly newsletter: February 13, 2023

If roads were religious, they’d be the first to find salvation given how holey some of them are.

Jokes aside, potholes started appearing early in January following the first mid-winter thaw around the new year and have been progressively getting worse since.

Unfortunately, potholes are an unavoidable fact of life, as water gets underneath roadways by permeating through cracks in the asphalt, the asphalt itself, or elsewhere in the surrounding landscape.

To make matters worse, the water then freezes and expands, which creates lots of hump-style imperfections in our roads throughout the winter (best examples are sewer covers that seem to be raised higher than normal during the winter).

Once it warms up, the ice melts and vacates into the surrounding soil, leaving a cavity for passing vehicles to collapse, thus forming a pothole. As more vehicles pass, it erodes the surroundings, expanding the pothole.

From my own observations, the worst area in my ward is Woodroffe Avenue between the railway and Earl Mulligan.

City crews are responsible for pothole patching, but general patching cannot happen until the temperature is above 5°C, as colder temperatures prevent the asphalt from bonding and adhering to the existing roadway. That’s why sometimes, you see recently patched potholes reopen with lots of asphalt bits around it.

Emergency patching happens in really bad areas, but it’s meant as a stop gap measure until proper patching can happen when it warms up (which is why I wonder why northbound Woodroffe at Baseline hasn’t received that treatment yet).

Regardless, the best way to report potholes is to call 3-1-1, emailing them at 311@ottawa.ca or reporting it online. However, feel free to share them with me as well, so I can keep track of these requests, especially if staff have further comments they can share.

Drive safe!

-Wilson

Please note for Family Day and staffing requirements, the next two newsletters will be distributed on Tuesday instead of the usual Monday. We will resume Monday distribution on March 6th.