DURHAM -- A rough winter means local roads, driveways and parking lots are riddled with potholes and residents are in for a bumpy ride.

“We don’t track them by number, but we are expecting a significant increase in potholes this year because of the fluctuating weather,” said Regional roads technologist Warren Nicholishen.

Potholes occur when water seeps into cracks in asphalt. When it freezes, the ice expands, pushing dirt and gravel out. When the ice melts, it leaves behind holes underneath the asphalt, which eventually buckles, creating potholes.

Normally, the ground is frozen through January and February, into March and sometimes early April. That didn’t happen this year. Instead, there were several freeze-thaw cycles, increasing the number of holes.

The Region’s road maintenance budget for things such as potholes and shoulder repairs is roughly $260,000. Mr. Nicholishen said it’s difficult to know this early in the season how the extra work will affect the budget. Generally, works crews aim to complete this type of work by June.

“This year’s going to be a bit of an anomaly with how many more there will be and how long it takes to get to them,” said Mr. Nicholishen.

He adds the works department has a patrol system in place where employees look for potholes, but there’s a lot of ground to cover.

“The Region’s a pretty big place, and we’ve got 2,100 lane kilometres of roads to oversee and they’re all high traffic roads,” he said. As well, the workers that fill potholes are the same ones that do snow removal, sanding and salting. If there’s more snow this year, that may throw them further off course.

According to Durham’s performance standards, potholes larger than 25 centimetres -- just over a foot -- in diameter and six centimetres in depth are to be repaired as soon as possible.

“Smaller ones are usually picked up during our patrol and they’re noted and they’re kept an eye on,” said Mr. Nicholishen. He suggests residents who spot potholes contact their local municipality first. They’ll be directed to the Region if it’s on a Regional road. Those include all the major arterial roads like Hwy. 2 and Hwy. 7.

And it’s not just the Region dealing with potholes.

Vince LaMarca, owner of Central Park Paving and Construction, said he expects this spring to be busier than usual. His company handles residential, commercial and industrial jobs.

“We’re very busy in pricing jobs for driveways and parking lots,” he said. Though Mr. LaMarca’s done emergency repairs, most of the work will be done once the weather warms up.
He agrees the weather’s to blame for the damage this year.

“The freeze and thaw cycles have been damaging the asphalt this winter, also the amount of snow, the weight of the snow and the plowing,” he said.

Driving over a pothole can cause damage to shocks, wheel rims and other parts of the car.

Joe Linkie, owner of JKL Vehicle Repair, said although he’s not sure he’s done more repairs this year than last year because of damage caused by potholes, he feels like he’s done a lot.

The typical repair costs between $300 and $400, he said.

To minimize the damage, Mr. Linkie said drivers should watch out for holes and avoid driving over them if possible.

“Anything over a foot could potentially damage their car,” he said.