City Hits 1,000 Pothole Fixed Milestone With Thousands More To Go
By Robert Thomas
If the Proclaimers worked for the City of Moose Jaw the fitting chorus to their signature song would likely be “…I would fix 500 potholes and I would fix 500 more just to be the man to fix 5,000 more…”
That’s the good and the bad news about the pothole situation on Moose Jaw streets.
The good news is in 2023 City crews have so far fixed 1,000 potholes.
The bad news is there are thousands more still waiting to be filled.
INSTEAD OF PATCHING MULTIPLE SMALL POTHOLES IN AN AREA CREWS ARE NOW CUTTING OUT AND PATCHING AN AREA. IT’S SEEN AS A BETTER WAY TO FIX POTHOLES - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
“I’m just wondering for the public’s interest what the plan is to start filling some of these potholes in the city…” Councillor Dawn Luhning asked Administration during Monday afternoon’s marathon Council meeting.
City engineer Bevan Harlton said City staff had been going hard fixing potholes after the hot mix plant started up for another season about two weeks ago.
In addition to having access to hot mix crews now have their milling machine deployed which allows more expansive repairs to an area, Harlton said.
Crews have been focusing on Coteau Street, 9th Avenue NW and sections of Main Street north of the Downtown.
“I haven’t heard of anything preventing our Public Works crew from getting that done. From our updates it’s been moving ahead fairly proficiently,” he said.
Mayor Asked About Potholes - Safety First
During the post Council meeting media scrum Mayor Clive Tolley was asked about potholes by MJ Independent.
Mayor Tolley said one thing he would like the stress before he got into the actual pothole issue was how many people were not following the rules of work zones, and endangering the lives and safety of city crews.
“In your stories about this I would ask you as a matter of safety to talk about what we’ve been trying to push through at Public Works Week we’ve got barricades up and we’ve got people working and people (drivers) are disregarding the barricades and going through. And not only going through (barricades) but going through at high speeds,” he said.
“If there is a barricade there is there for a reason. So we want our employees to be safe and to work on our roads.”
The Mayor asked drivers to remember barricades are up to protect workers and the speed limit in work zones is 30 km/hr.
“If there is a barricade there is there for a reason. So we want our employees to be safe and to work on our roads. Do this patching without worrying somebody is going to clip them.”
“So where there is a barricade, you don’t go through. And when you’re near those barricades and you see people working it’s supposed to be slow down to 30 km/hr,” he said.
“Respect for life. Respect for our workers is very important.
Mayor Tolley Says Potholes Sign Of The Times
Mayor Tolley said the pothole problem was result of two different factors.
First, Moose Jaw was in the same position as many other municipalities with crumbling infrastructure and not enough money to fix it all.
“We are in a dilemma all Canadian municipalities are that is we don’t have enough money to fix our infrastructure and it’s always deteriorating,” the Mayor said.
“We are always looking for money from the federal government” he said, especially when it came in special projects, meaning the city doesn’t have enough money for infrastructure including major road work.
“We’re in a deficit situation. All municipalities are the same. We can’t keep up with the amount of potholes, the deterioration of our sewer system, and the only way we have to raise funds is through property assessment.”
And secondly, Mayor Tolley said Moose Jaw had too many years in the past of zero percent tax increases which led to not enough maintenance.
A price the city is now paying for. With potholes part of the price.
Mayor Offers Solutions And Some Spin
The Mayor said part of the solution was for him - and others - to continue to try to build the city and get more industrial to help expand tax base to be able to afford to make necessary repairs.
Moose Jaw’s strong reserves also help financially he said because the City can loan itself money from one fund to another at rates cheaper than from a financial institution.
“We’re fortunate, but we’re still in the deficit, trying to keep the infrastructure up.”