Toronto road crews tackle first pothole repair blitz of the year

By News staff

With spring less than a month away, City of Toronto road crews tackled potholes on Saturday — the first repair blitz of the year.

The freeze-thaw cycle over the past few weeks has led to several potholes popping up across the city, including on the Gardiner Expressway and the Don Valley Parkway.

At least 40 road crews were deployed at 4 a.m. Saturday to fill up to 4,000 potholes.

On a regular day, around 25 crews are out filling potholes. However, during a blitz, more crews are deployed across the city over a span of 12 hours.

CityNews reporter Sean Cowan tagged along with the road crew of one pothole repair truck. Mayor John Tory was there as well. Watch the video below:

“I did say to (the workers) that I encouraged your viewers to give them a friendly wave instead of flipping the bird to them,” Tory told CityNews. “They do get more flak, if I can use that word, than you think from people trying to get around.”

So far this year, the city’s road crews have repaired more than 13,000 potholes.

Potholes are created when water penetrates the top layer of asphalt through cracks in the road. After the moisture freezes and expands, sections of the pavement are forced up. The weight of vehicles going over these sections breaks the pavement, forcing the asphalt out.

Potholes are more frequent in the spring, after the freeze-thaw cycle, but they happen at other times of the year.

It costs the city $25 to repair each pothole and 15-20 minutes to repair each one. The city budgets $4-5 million annually for repairing potholes. Click here for everything you need to know about potholes in Toronto.

This Saturday’s blitz will be one of many taking place over the weekend from now until April.

Drivers are being reminded to report any potholes to the city online or by calling 311.


Related content:

Facts and figures about potholes in Toronto

City plans to fill thousands of potholes this weekend

Toronto drivers dodge potholes all across city


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