Pond-sized pothole in Black Tickle big enough to drown in, says resident

A photo of a road in Black Tickle, Labrador is making the rounds on Facebook, after a resident put a boat in a water-filled pothole.

After a recent rainfall, Jeffrey Keefe took his boat, which is more than four metres long, and put it in the pond-sized pothole to illustrate its size.

• Black Tickle roads 'horrible,' says resident

"I put her out into the pothole and it's only about half the length of the pothole. The pothole is the same size of the road — it goes from one side to the other," Keefe told CBC's Labrador Morning.

You could hit your head and knock yourself out and you end up drowning in a pothole.- Jeffrey Keefe

"We got probably about a half dozen that size and then the entire road is littered with them … even if somebody was using a unicycle you still wouldn't be able to stay out of the potholes around here."

Keefe said it's common to see potholes this size around the community and vehicles tend to need annual maintenance for suspension.

He said the photos, while amusing, show the potential hazards.

"Even if somebody was walking the road and they happen to trip and fall down, there's a good chance you could hit your head and knock yourself out and you end up drowning in a pothole on the road," he said.

'Wonder nobody's been hurt'

Keefe added politicians commenting on how bad the roads are during a visit isn't helpful; residents want to see some kind of action.

"It's just an election promise, they'll promise you the moon when they're in here, but when they're gone that's it. You don't hear tell of them no more," said Keefe.

"Even if they just got us a bit of stone or something to patch it up, that would be good enough. As long as you get rid of the culverts and bedrock, you don't need no new road or anything, just come in and actually do maintenance on it."

The last time there were improvements to the road, Keefe said, was in 1999.

"We got exposed culverts here showing out of the road, some of them is after being worn through, we got rocks put in them so people don't go down through them," he said.

"It's a wonder nobody's been hurt with it."