Guelph’s manager of Public Works says there is about an average number of potholes around the city this year, but crews are nevertheless putting in overtime to get ahead of the problem.
“I would say this year is starting off fairly normal in the amount of potholes we’re seeing. There are some streets that are worse than others, but none that we would consider consistent hotspots,” said Terry Dooling.
The department continues to patch potholes in the early spring, despite freezing and thawing temperatures, said Dooling.
“As the weather continues to improve, we’ll have our roads teams patching potholes on extra shifts throughout the weekends,” he said. “We try to keep up with the potholes this time of the year because the weather can be so unpredictable.”
The City of Guelph web site has a dedicated section for reporting potholes, as well as an email address to report to and a phone number.
“We would really encourage anyone that sees a pothole to report it to us, so we can fix it for them as soon as possible,” said Dooling.
Sometimes the potholes can be dealt with the same day they are reported, he said.
The City of Guelph email address for reporting potholes is [email protected], while the phone number for reporting them is 519-837-5628.
Dooling said the city also has an online process for residents to submit a claim for damage from a pothole.
“We encourage them to go online and fill out the form,” said Dooling about the damage claim process.
The city generally does not pay out many pot hole claims as the city must be found to have not met the minimum maintenance standards, said the City of Guelph’s Legal department in an email to GuelphToday.
The typical claim is for damage to rims and tires.
“The City paid approximately $1,500 in pot hole claims last year and has paid out less than $1,000.00 this year,” said the email from the Legal department.
