Edmonton·Video

Not so undercover boss: Edmonton councillor fills potholes

Edmonton city Coun. Andrew Knack traded in his shirt and tie for overalls and a fluorescent vest to ride along with a pothole filling crew.

'I wanted to ask crews what they would do to improve the roads,' says Andrew Knack

City councillor gets his hands dirty on pothole duty

8 years ago
Duration 1:05
Summer vacation has started for Edmonton city council, so Andrew Knack traded in his shirt and tie for overalls and a fluorescent vest to ride along with a pothole-filling crew.

Edmonton city Coun. Andrew Knack traded in his shirt and tie for overalls and a fluorescent vest to ride along with a pothole filling crew.

After hearing complaints from people in his ward, Knack wanted to learn what it takes to fill in potholes and how long the process takes. He not only rode along with a four-person crew, but he even dumped filler and packed it down.

The number of potholes filled in from Jan 1 to July is up by more than 70,000 in 2016 compared to 2015 — 303,900 as opposed to 239,217.

The total number of potholes filled in previous years were:

  • 2013: 748,650
  • 2014: 485,700
  • 2015: 551,200

The city currently gets about 150 notifications to 311 related to potholes per week.

@Travismcewancbc Travis.mcewan@cbc.ca