Sudbury seeing more potholes than usual this winter

Not a good winter for Sudbury potholes The City of Greater Sudbury confirmed it has been a unique year with potholes popping up on area roads earlier than usual.

The City of Greater Sudbury says it has been a unique year with potholes popping up on area roads earlier than usual.

Right now, city and contract crews are busy filling potholes on days when the weather is suitable. Meanwhile, automotive repair shops are busy dealing with damages caused by them.

So far this year, the City of Greater Sudbury said it has received 250 calls about potholes, heaves and dips in area roads and confirmed it also does regular patrols looking for them.

"So this has been an interesting season. There has been a lot of extreme weather conditions with the rain, the snow, extreme cold and then more mild weather," said Brittany Hallam, the city's linear infrastructure services director.

"So we have definitely seen an increase in potholes this year and I think we will see it throughout the year."

Copper Cliff Automotive said it’s been very busy lately repairing damages from vehicles hitting potholes.

"Yeah, your car can’t handle that kind of stuff," said Eric Berthiaume, the repair shop's owner.

Eric Berthiaume, the owner of Copper Cliff Automot Eric Berthiaume, the owner of Copper Cliff Automotive who is doing a lot of costly repair work from vehicles hitting potholes. Mar. 3/22 (Alana Everson/CTV Northern Ontario)

Berthiaume said he’s seen a lot of bent rims and suspension damage.

"Right now, we are seeing a lot of broken coil springs, blown struts, shocks being destroyed. A lot of ball joints, a lot of front-end issues," he said.

The city said it has crews out repairing potholes when the weather cooperates and is asking people to call 311 with any safety concerns about potholes.

"Potentially, people don’t feel that they can drive or navigate through it safely. Or potentially, there is something obstructing them that they cannot actually see it when they come upon on, which could cause them to hit it at a great speed. Anything like that that could cause significant damage, we would like to be aware of because we obviously want to mitigate that situation," said Hallam.

Back at the shop in Copper Cliff, it’s one vehicle after another in need of costly repairs from potholes.

"It’s good for my business, I am not going to lie, but it’s not good for the customer's pocketbook, for sure," said Berthiaume

Last winter, the city said it filled 43,000 potholes, the average is 55,000.

The pothole-patching budget is $1.4 million annually.