It takes some skillful driving to avoid some of the potholes around Halifax. “You have to keep your eyes open or else you go into a hole,” says motorist Carolyn Mont. It’s only mid-February, and the crumbling roads are typically more of an issue in the spring. Mechanic Bill Hope says he’s getting more calls earlier in the year. “Daily, it’s a daily thing,” he says. Hope sees a wide range of damaged vehicles come into his Lower Sackville, N.S., shop. “Flat tires are a big thing, then you will get bent control arms, broken struts, broken strut mounts,” Hope says. The potholes and road conditions have even caught the attention of a Nova Scotia music legend. Anne Murray took to social media over the weekend, offering to fix the city’s potholes. “I’m going to get some sand for my car so I can start filling the potholes in the streets of Halifax,” Murray wrote on Facebook Sunday. Mont agrees but she also sympathizes with road repair workers. “I don’t know enough about it to know how they can do anything right now with the snowplows coming by ice in the holes makes them bigger, it’s really challenging,” she says. Some of those streets are scheduled for temporary repairs starting on Tuesday. Municipal crews will be filling holes on Robie, Agricola, Barrington and North streets. They will be using a method called cold patch which is a band-aid approach used until more permanent work can be done when the pavement is warmer Until then, mechanic Bill Hope has some words of advice. “Slow down, don’t drive after dark too much unless you have awful good headlights,” he cautions. Municipal officials say the patch work will happen outside of peak times, but they are telling motorists to expect some delays and to take alternate routes until they’re finished the work on Friday. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
