In Montreal, spring is often referred to as pothole season — and in that sense, spring arrived early this year, with crater-sized holes riddling many city streets.
“The condition of some of the road surfaces makes absolutely no sense,” said Claude Pinard, Montreal’s executive committee president, pointing to a rough winter season, with numerous freeze-thaw cycles.
To ensure the roads were safe and passable, Pinard said the city had no choice but go into emergency mode and quickly patch things up. But he said patching is a Band-Aid solution.
Pinard made the comments during a Friday news conference announcing a “shift in gears” in the city’s approach to pothole management, from short-term fixes to long-term solutions focusing on prevention.
“That’s why we’re adding $6 million to prepare for next season,” he said.
The new plan involves more than just sending out crews to fill the holes. It involves creating two new “centres of excellence,” according to Pinard, that will be solely dedicated to road maintenance.
Pinard said the specialized teams will be made up of 24 blue-collar workers, who will study best practices and co-ordinate pothole repairs year-round. One team will operate in the east, the other in the west.
The move, Pinard said, will allow the city to bring a significant portion of operations in-house, making it less subject to market realities and will also allow for greater predictability in terms of the maintenance costs.
The city is also buying two new pothole-filling machines to be added to its fleet of four for the 2027 season.
Guillaume Dupont Croteau with the Syndicat des Cols bleus regroupés de Montréal said the union and the city are on the same page.
“We are part of the solution, and not only when it is pothole season, [but] for the whole year,” he said.
And while the city says it is looking ahead, current efforts to make city streets safer are ongoing.
Two of the four automated sealing machines that were out of commission this winter are expected to be back on the roads in the next few weeks as pothole season hits it peak.
The city also plans on resurfacing 67 kilometres of Montreal’s arterial road network, including the following streets:
Sections of Papineau Avenue in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough.
Louis-H.-La Fontaine Boulevard in the Anjou borough.
Sherbrooke Street East in the Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough.
Pierre-Dupuy Avenue in the Ville-Marie borough.
Additionally, $4.8 million has been earmarked for major roadwork to overhaul a section of Notre-Dame Street East.