Stop Patchwork Pothole Solution: CRERAR
Everyone has likely been in a vehicle somewhere in Ottawa recently and has gritted their teeth as they drove over, or did their best to avoid, a pothole or two or 10.
How can we put the problems with our broken-down roads behind us now that the ice that was keeping roads level has melted?
A number of years ago a large pothole took up residence on the roadway in front of my house. Eventually this uninvited guest morphed into a family of potholes all living in the same vicinity and a small aggravation became a nuisance. Regular calls to 311 resulted in a visit by a few workers who showed up within a day or two, filled the holes with a mixture of tar and gravel then tamped it flat. But the fix was temporary and the same sequence of events took place quarterly.
This went on for a number of years until one day I called 311 and was asked the location of the offending potholes by the woman who answered the phone. I told her this time I didn’t want the holes patched, rather I wanted the problem fixed.
Next, I provided her with a suggestion for a different approach. The rationale was based on cost to the city to continue with the current process. The total expense to continue with the approach the city was taking included:
1) the cost for her time to answer my call, make notes, and forward my request to the roads department;
2) the cost to create a work order and schedule a team to do the work;
3) the cost to load the truck with materials, maintenance costs (wear and tear) for the truck, plus fuel to get to the destination;
4) the cost of two or three city workers’ wages, and;
5) the opportunity cost while other work waited to be attended to (not really a hard dollar amount).
Multiply the total cost of one through five by four since the problem presented itself quarterly. I guessed the cost for one visit at roughly $2,000 but that is not really relevant. What if, instead of patching the group of potholes, the city considered repaving the problem area. Estimating that the one-time cost to repave was roughly $20,000 (again, a guess), the return on investment would be 10 quarters or 2.5 years.
The woman who answered the call must have been taking good notes because early the following spring a crew repaved the problem area within two hours. The pesky potholes have not reappeared since.
Why can’t city council develop a new approach to fixing our roads rather than continuing with their existing and unsuccessful patching approach. If presented with a new plan by a concerned resident, would they listen as attentively as the woman who answered the 311 call? Unless a new approach is adopted our ramshackle roads will continue to remain in disrepair for many years to come.
Howard Crerar is a project manager and has worked in the software industry for three decades.
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I once complained to my councillor (ward 23) about potholes and the City’s patch and stomp approach to fixing them .. he assured me I was wrong and that the repairs were all professionally done. All I could do was shake my head and walk away … That was his level of understanding and concern for his community.
I saw a crew patching one of the major roads in my area on day. It was mid-morning and the road wasn’t busy so I stopped and asked one of the crew members how much value this approach to fixing roads was providing. He shrugged his shoulders and said “none”. ‘Nuff said.
Oh Donna, Donna, Donna!
Did you really use “level of understanding” and “concern for his community” in a sentence referring to Allan Hubley??
I’m dying to know what “profession” he thinks is doing those repairs. I know of at least three places where the Roads Department could reasonably set up an office for its pothole fillers since they’re there so often year after year. One woman I know is almost on a first-name basis with the group that fills and refills the potholes on her street.
A “professional” job shouldn’t need to be repeated within a year of the original repair. They should have some standard that automatically moves a locale onto the ‘re-pave’ list after the fill-in crew has been there for the second time in four years.
I also have a series of pothole between my driveway and my neighbour’s that has to be re-filled in annually. I wonder if your approach will work since they have only been filling it in annually (rather than quarterly) for the past 10-15 years. I should give your approach a try. Thanks for the heads up
Madame Voter, yes .. I did use those words in referring to the ward 23 councillor but, alas, they dripped with unrelenting sarcasm … our councillor is truly one of the most vacant (in every sense of that word imaginable) ever elected.
There have been many head shaking moments over the years and one can only hope his ‘pensionable service’ has finally accumulated enough frequent flyer points …
At some point stitching patches on patches which covered other patches no longer works. What is the magical number before you start afresh? Find out from the city works department what their number is and subtract 20.