By Glenn Hicks

The spring melt is underway: Watch for potholes

Apr 20, 2018 | 3:00 PM

It has been a long winter but spring has sprung almost overnight with temperatures reaching double digits and nighttime lows staying close to freezing.

That means the melt is well underway on the roads.

“The real concerns now would be drainage issues and making sure the manholes and catch basins are open for drainage,” roadways manager Brent Kennedy told paNOW. “And we’ve had two crews out in the last week or so working on potholes.”

As the snow melts – and it’s happening quickly due to the sharp rise in temperatures – the roads are awash with running water. However, Kennedy said the nighttime temperatures were cooperating.

“With it not freezing at night it certainly helps us because the manholes don’t freeze over so we don’t have to go back and repeat any clearing,” he said. It’s also helping with manhole fixes because the lack of very cold temperatures means the holes they do fill don’t pop back out overnight.

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While crews are getting around to repairs to the road surfaces, Kennedy is reminding the public to take it easy.

“Be aware, there’s going to be puddles around and go slow when you go through them because there could be a pothole there too,” he said.

As for the repair schedule Kennedy said they deal with the main roads first then work their way out from there, but they’re always prepared to deal with anything else that’s serious.

“If people report a pot hole by calling it in to city hall we can get out there pretty quickly, “ he said. “We’ll repair it and then go back to what we were doing.”

Not surprisingly the river ice break up is late this year. Speaking from experience Kennedy said the break-up usually happens between April 14 and April 17 but he figures it won’t happen for another week or so.

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow