City councillor compares Montreal's pothole repairs to putting 'lipstick on a pig'
Claims filed over Montreal pothole damage nearly doubled in 2016
A Montreal city councillor says instead of just patching potholes, the city should come up with better ways to fix roads long-term.
For the past five years, Montreal has invested half a billion dollars to maintain its road network and address the city's estimated 60,000 to 90,000 potholes.
The first pothole repair operation of 2017 took place this weekend. Under the current mechanized system, repairing a pothole costs the city an average of $20.
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Opposition councillor Steve Shanahan says the city's pothole resurfacing plan is a superficial solution.
"We just dig down the first couple inches, top layers, and we redo it esthetically," he said.
"It looks good for five years but we have not fixed the other problems, so there's a really good chance that even within a year or two of doing one of these esthetic makeup jobs—lipstick on a pig—we're going to get the potholes coming back again."
Number of damage claims on the rise
Potholes still pose a serious problem for drivers, some of whom go so far as to submit claims for damaged vehicles to the city.
The number of claims increased by 88 per cent from 2015 to 2016, according to data compiled by Radio-Canada.
Last year, 591 people made claims to the city, compared to 315 in 2015 and 325 in 2014.
"Changes in climate create potholes, but that being said, we want to be as proactive as possible. So when people send us damage claims, we investigate," said city spokesman Jacques-Alain Lavallée.
Provincial and municipal governments can't be held liable for damage to tires or a vehicle's suspension because of road conditions, according to CAA-Quebec.
But it is possible to sue a municipality or city for negligence or misconduct if a claimant can prove the authority responsible for maintaining the stretch of road in question knew about the problem in advance and failed to do anything about it.
Despite the increased number of claims being submitted last year, only about 24 per cent actually received compensation.
With files from Radio-Canada and Simon Nakonechny