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City of Saskatoon says potholes won’t be ‘popping up like popcorn’

Mar 27, 2015 | 4:40 PM

As puddles of melted ice and snow recede and uncover potholes, the City of Saskatoon is almost ready to launch its latest version of the Report-a-Pothole app.

“We’re expecting it will be up next week,” Pat Hyde, director of public works with the City of Saskatoon said. “It will be a new and improved version and a better reporting tool.”

Hyde said the city took the app offline in December and have been working towards a better reporting experience for users. They’re also trying to iron out a few wrinkles in the software.

“Last year there were potholes reported in the middle of the river, we had some reported in parking lots and private property,” Hyde said, adding the app will look the same from the outside, but people will notice a difference when reporting a pothole.

As for what the forecasts of potholes looks like this year, Hyde said there should be less potholes in light of all the paving crews accomplished last construction season.

“We shouldn’t see potholes on those streets, you’ll see an improvement on those roadways and potholes won’t be popping up like popcorn,” he said.

But city crews and contractors are ready for a normal season of potholes, but there’s no way of telling how many there are in the city – the city waits for a season-end count on the amount of hot asphalt mix used and compare it to previous years, Hyde said.

“Last year we came up with 180,000 potholes.”

Private companies have begun making hot asphalt mix and Hyde has his fingers crossed hoping the weather stays warm so public works can roll out the pothole patching and spring street-sweeping program.

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