Pothole that slowed Halifax morning commute repaired, says minister; many left to go

Many Maritime drivers are dealing with a fresh crop of potholes on roads.

They say time is money – and Friday morning’s commute into Halifax likely cost many drivers both.

Numerous vehicles were left needing repairs after hitting a significant pothole on Highway 101 in the Lower Sackville area.

“We became aware this morning,” says Fred Tilley, the province’s Public Works minister. “We believe it happened overnight with the rain.”

Given the disruption and safety concerns, it was addressed promptly.

“That area has been repaired,” says Tilley.

It’s a sure sign of the season with recent fluctuations in temperatures across the region.

Drivers have also raised concerns about a pair of potholes just off Portland Street merging onto Highway 111, leaving vehicles swerving to avoid them.

Then there’s the Bedford Highway that has several potholes scattered throughout, along with a significant pothole on Herring Cove Road near the Rubber Duck Car Wash.

All of those keep tire shops on their toes.

“Several times a day, people are coming in with flat tires,” says Chris Miller, manager of Scotia Tire on the Bedford Highway. “They’re not sure why... they hit a pothole, there’s a bend in the wheel. They’re not sure if the wheel’s fixable or not. Alignment issues also come with the territory as well.”

But he says with newer vehicles having larger tires and wheels, replacing tires is becoming more costly. That’s especially true for people with all-wheel drive vehicles.

“Unfortunately, a lot of vehicles are all-wheel drive,” says Miller. “A lot of people don’t know you can’t usually replace one tire on an all-wheel drive vehicle. So, it gets more costly when you get one tire that’s damaged and needs to be repaired.”

He says electric vehicles tend to have lower profile tires, meaning “they don’t have as much sidewall to absorb” the impact of potholes.

The municipality says staff have made a dent in the total tally already.

“Since Jan. 1 to today, we’ve had 566 work orders for pothole repairs, and we’ve repaired 334 potholes this year,” said spokesperson Laura Wright.

Still, about 150 “priority one” potholes are on the municipality’s radar. Those are at least 25 centimeters in diameter and eight centimeters deep.

They need to be repaired within seven-to-30 days, depending on how busy the road is.

But the repair service standards don’t start until April 1.

The municipality says clear and dry days are needed to repair potholes, but could not explain by deadline why standards only take effect in April. The municipality also could not say how common it is for priority one pothole repair targets to not be met.

Still, work is underway to address what they can.

“It’s certainly a priority for the municipality,” says Wright. “Last weekend, we had a number of road closures in place to address potholes.”

And the numbers are actually down in Halifax. There are about 330 fewer potholes reported in the first two months of this year compared to January 2024 alone.

But the recent temperature fluctuation might add to the current total before long. And it certainly doesn’t meet the eye test for some.

“They’ve been worse this year, I think, than they have been the past couple of years,” says motorist Jae Veno.

“I’ve been trying to avoid every single pothole I have been seeing,” says Cesar Cabarcos. “There’s way too many, and especially after it snows, it’s worse.”

You can file a claim with the province or the municipality, depending on where the damage occurred.

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