More money allocated to repair potholes on Calgary roads

Every year changing weather leads to cracks in the roads, but this year some Calgarians say they are feeling the bumps even more.

The city says it has heard the complaints and is out with a new plan to repair roads by allocating more than double the funds to tackle potholes.

Coun. Peter Demong brought the issue before city council Tuesday, which agreed to transfer $8.9 million from the winter maintenance reserve to pothole repairs.

“Why not use that surplus on these potholes that are created from the snow and ice that came the year before,” Demong said. “It just made sense to me.”

READ MORE: Calgary driver claims pothole cost him $1000

Mayor Jyoti Gondek acknowledges the city is behind on its pothole maintenance after money was taken out of the repair budget over time.

“Now, in order to catch up, we’re going to have to double the budget to even fix the problems that we have,” she says.

The city’s annual budget for pothole repairs is $6.9 million. As of May 24, city crews have filled more than 8,800 potholes, about 2,000 more compared to the same point last year.

Year-to-date, the city has received approximately 5,830 pothole maintenance service requests via 311. The total amount of request for 2023 was 7,634.

But the potholes that were there have already done their damage and tire shops are seeing cars with a range of problems.

“Some of the more common ones that we see are tire rupture, and maybe a bent wheel here and there,” says Bret Morley, store manager at KalTire Calgary North Hill. “Some of the more extreme cases are vehicles being towed in with separated steering or suspension components. Some vehicles are pretty much right-offs at that point.”

For timely repair, the city encourages Calgarians to report potholes at Calgary.ca/potholes. The city prioritizes repairs based on severity of the pothole, safety impacts, and location.