Whether March goes out like a lion or a lamb one thing is for certain, there is a bumper crop of potholes plaguing the streets of Williams Lake this year.
“This winter has been pretty tough on us,” said the city’s director of municipal services Gary Muraca Thursday. “We have seen a big increase. Our roads are getting older and are more vulnerable to freeze and thaw cycles.”
Since early March, streets department employees have been out every day of the week filling in the potholes.
Crews come in at 6 a.m. and the first thing they do is make asphalt out of recycled asphalt from the tennis court and other projects.
“We put it into our asphalt machine and add oil to make an asphalt hot mix,” Muraca said. “We’re making about four tonnes each morning and once that’s made they go out there.”
Public works is using a systematic approach to work on one area at a time to protect the City from liability, but if there’s a big hazard area crews will go and address it, Muraca said.
Four tonnes of asphalt will cover 50 to 70 potholes, depending on the size, so if there’s time crews will return to public works to make another batch for the afternoon shift. Or, they will be in the next day to make asphalt for the morning shift, Muraca noted.
Residents can also expect to see city crews out sweeping and washing the streets.
“We run about six to eight people a shift, and it takes three or four just to pave, so we’re balancing that with our spring cleanup,” Muraca said.
Between January and February, 114 centimetres of snow fell in Williams Lake and 65 to 75 per cent of the 2018 snow removal budget was used, Muraca added.