Pure Evil: Your Reaction To Pesky Potholes

They’re a nuisance, sure, but the work of the devil? To some, that’s exactly what potholes are.

We usually don’t see too many new ones this time of year – they tend to crop up in the spring – but due to recent weather patterns that saw the mercury dip, soar, then plummet again, the wheel-busting divots are back.

In fact, work crews from the City of Toronto have repaired three times as many holes this season compared to the same time last year.

We asked what you thought of the problem and you told us.

Herewith, a sampling of your comments. 

There are some serious potholes on St. Clair between Bathurst and Dufferin going westbound around the streetcar tracks. 
 
They are pure evil.
 
Peasantgirl

On Eglinton going eastbound, just east of Leslie, there just happens to be a severe pothole in the road that has caused 7 cars to be stranded with busted tires and destroyed rims.

These drivers are currently waiting for the tow trucks to come and take their cars away, as they are unable to move.  There is even a car that as destroyed their accelerator system in their car. 
 
The hole was unmarked by the city works department.  If you receive this e-mail, please send someone to this area to cover this occurrence. 
 
Please send someone to cover this

Nicole

Lump of coal, asphalt and pavement. You can get all of these and more ANYWHERE on Simcoe Street North in Oshawa near Durham College. They have been doing construction on this road for months and you could not tell. I destroyed the suspension on my vehicle last week (merry xmas to mechanic). Please fix this. The students alone account for a large portion of the travel on this road. As a tax payer this is beyond unacceptable.
 
Bah Humbug.
 
JD

Dawn Jones

Hello all,

Hope you enjoyed your Christmas holidays.

There is a nice strip of potholes in Mississauga on Eglinton in the eastbound lane between Spectrum Way and Satellite Dr.

I believe there are 2 large ones and about 3 or 4 smaller ones all within a ¼ km strip of road. In fact, the whole lane really needs to be repaved as there will be more potholes springing up (or down) in the coming months.

Tim Follett

There’s a nice big pothole on Allen Road – in the left lane just south of the exits to the 401.  Deep and long, I hit it on December 23rd when there was some snow obscuring it (although I had been successfully avoiding it for at least a couple of weeks before that).  Blew my right front tire, causing me to spend $240 on a new tire, then a tire rotation and alignment (and I also had an oil change since my car was at Canadian for four and a half hours!!!).  More than the money – it was the huge loss of time two days before Christmas that made me Grinchy.
 
Thanks for the opportunity to vent – I hope this one gets fixed soon!

Debbie H.

Hi my name is Dan, I would just like to say that the whole stretch of Finch Ave West from Highway 27 to Yonge Street is just horrible I was driving down Kipling – Islington on Finch and my wheels almost got stuck in a pothole there.

It was very horrifying for me as a experienced driver, I’ve been driving on Ontario’s road for over 20 years and this was just absolutely amazing. Please check it out.

Daniel Awdhan

Tis the season for potholes…and a dent in your chequebook too. 

My sister was out last Friday night and unfortunately couldn’t see the massive hole in the road up a head (Yonge Street, south of the 401).  This blew out the front tire of my sister’s car and is now costing over $400 to fix.  Thankfully she was the only one on the road…but many aren’t so lucky. 

We all know that this is part of where we live (hot and cold climate changes) but until potholes can be properly fixed, I strongly feel that someone should be out surveying the roads and placing a cone or some kind of indication of where a pothole is so that people don’t have to go through what my sister went through – and is still sorting out.  

Thanks for doing this story.

Happy Holidays…and Happy New Year!

Erica