Potholes unavoidable part of spring in Thunder Bay, say city and drivers

Many young drivers in Ontario would say the hardest parts of learning to drive is to learn skills like parallel parking.

Now, the roads themselves are posing a challenge to students, says Thunder Bay driving instructor Laurie Rose. 

Rose said potholes have become so severe that she's had to change how and where she teaches driving lessons. While provincial ministry standards advise drivers to use the right lane as much as possible, Rose said she now instructs students to avoid it due to potholes. 

"Driving in that curb lane, the potholes sometimes are a foot and a half, two feet deep," said Rose, who owns Road Ready Driving Academy. "The right lane is so dangerous right now, and I've seen people that have hit [potholes] have blown tires, taken their front end out." 

Rose said she thinks the potholes this spring are the worst she's seen in years.

"I have to teach the young people that you see gravel, a little black asphalt, there's a hole. If you see water sitting there, it's likely a hole underneath. And if you hit it, you're doing major, major damage to your car." 

Rose fears the potholes will damage her car, which she uses to teach driving lessons. 

"I'm scared all the time. You tense up and everything and because you know you're going to hit hard." 

Potholes can pose hazard: mechanic

Repair shops in Thunder Bay can see an influx in customers coming in with damages in early spring, said Jeff Peacock, a mechanic at Mezo Motors.

The impact of hitting a pothole can damage a vehicle's front end or suspension. It can also cause components like ball joints or tie rods to wear out sooner than usual, said Peacock. 

While not every bump has drastic consequences, repeated impact over time can be hard on vehicles or cause them to become misaligned. Peacock said if this happens, the driver will usually be able to tell by how the steering feels. 

"You'll hit a bump and your car will veer a little bit more than it usually does. That'll tell you that something is either loose or worn. If it's moving too much, you'll notice it."

He recommends slowing down during pothole season and avoiding rough roads when possible. 

"If you know they're riddled with potholes and stuff, take the next road down so you don't damage your vehicle. It's just being aware," said Peacock. 

Weather makes it challenging to stay on top of repairs: city 

The fluctuating temperatures of spring can make it difficult for the city to fix potholes that emerge this time of year, said roads manager Ian Spoljarich.

While the potholes pose a challenge, he said they don't appear to be any worse overall compared to previous years. 

The combination of snow and rain means potholes are filling with water during the day, then freezing overnight, he said. This freeze and thaw cycle makes the asphalt crack quickly. 

"It definitely is a challenge because a lot of the potholes that we are dealing with are filled with either water or ice, or we just don't have the temperatures to compact and get the proper maintenance done," Spoljarich said. 

It's still too cold to use hot-mix asphalt for permanent pothole repairs, so road crews use cold-mix asphalt to temporarily fill the holes until the temperatures rise around May long weekend, he said.

"We try to just, you know, make the hole safe until we can get there with a more permanent repair." 

The city has a pothole patcher machine called the Python 5000 that helps by heating up the asphalt before it hits the ground, but it's still a challenge to keep up with the potholes as they appear. 

"We are getting to them. But some of them, we'll fix them on Tuesday and by Wednesday they're popping out again just because of the temperatures," Spoljarich said. 

"So it may look like we're not getting to them. It's just the way it is right now, unfortunately."