The problem is that they are not repaving properly. If the base isn’t fixed and the top coat is just 1cm, it won’t last.

Check the corner of Davis and Ospika. That intersection must have a minimum of 25 pot holes. I wonder what the outcome of a court case will be when some motorcyclist is seriously hurt because of the cities inability to repair the streets.
Are these people at city hall oblivious to the road conditions? They must be as there are always millions of dollars available for pet projects but nothing for roads.

Welcome to the Pothole capital of Canada. 156th worst place in Canada to live out of 180 surveyed.

I don’t think they are oblivious to the road conditions! But there may be a paralyzing fear of the anger of the voters (who would retaliate by not re-electing them) if the taxes are raised yet again to pay for this REAL emergency PLUS all the endless millions of dollars pet projects!

Fear can turn your insides into a knot and then you can’t see too clearly!

Hope it’s not too late for a rethinking of priorities and some deep soul searching.

BTW, we need some proper lengths right hand exit lanes at intersections on Central Street! Four meters is TOO short!

Hint: Call the Minister of Highways in Victoria – the number can be found on his website.

The chnages make sense

Not re-electing them? Ha ha ha . In yer dreams. “We liked most of the incumbents so much we re-elected them”. Sorry, pal. Just suffer. It’s only three Novembers away from now. By the way, don’t forget this. Most people do. It is early in their mandate. Do you suppose nine new councilors and mayor could do a worse job? I don’t.

Make that eight councilors. I lied.

Sure sounds like sour grapes to me, Harb. I doubt you would be doing a much better job. You didn’t convince the voters, that’s for sure.

It should read Ospika to Tyner both directions.

Adding to the potholes howcome there is no turning lanes off Tyner into the new subdivision? I understand there has been rear enders and lots of near misses. So is the developer required to foot the bill for this or does the taxpayer get hosed again putting money into some developers hands.

I would think there can be a liability issue here.

“The problem is that they are not repaving properly. If the base isn’t fixed and the top coat is just 1cm, it won’t last”

The highways are repaved in exactly the same way as is the route of hwy16 through the city and highway 97 through the City.

So, yes if the subsurface is actually inadequate, which is most certainly true in the case of many College Heights roads, then it has to be fixed.

Councillor Stolz this morning said that the probelm is money. So they are simply doing what some people call cosmetic treatment. They are not dealing with the root cause.

However, I do not have any information that tells me that the Ospikas and 15th avenues of this City have a subsurface deficiency.

Take a close look at the surface when they remove the top 3 or 4 cm and I do not recall seeing too many deficiencies as I am driving over it. I think I will take a walk along a few streets at key points and take some pictures this year of any visible defects of that lower layer of asphalt.

Without anything at the moment to tell me that the lower layer is defective, I think it is the top layer that goes down that is the main problem. Adhesion, compaction, percent mix, temperature, moisture, etc. are all things to look for.

In fact, if there are more expensive mixes, then they may wish to try some that are put into similar conditions of traffic as a “normal” mix to see if there is a difference.

“The highways are repaved in exactly the same way as is the route of hwy16 through the city and highway 97 through the City.”

Has to be some sort of a difference.

Some information.

The agreement between the province and the feds of what the gas tax rebate can be used for. Look at schedule A – road rehabilitation to make them sustainable is most certainly included.
http://www.ubcm.ca/assets/Funding~Programs/GasTax/Resources/Gas%20Tax%20Agreement.pdf

There are three amendments to that agreement. The latest is from last year and amends Schedule A
http://www.ubcm.ca/assets/Funding~Programs/GasTax/Resources/Amendment%20Letter%20September%2024%202010.pdf

It cuts down the projects substantially but retains Rehabilitation of Roads … that enhance sustainable outcomes.”

I had suggested that all the money should go towards making our approach to new road construction as well as existing road maintenance more sustainable. It was obviously on the list and remains on the list because it is a pressing problem for municipalities. It just happens that we seem to have one of the worst track records for dealing with that function of City operations.

So last year we spent some $4+ million on the energy system. There are supposed to be savings as a result of that. Thus, I also suggest that those savings go directly to road maintenance.

Effectively that would turn over the investment into another gas tax objective rather than another area of City responsibility.

BTW, someone at City Hall left a message for me that the money cannot go roads. Sure wonder where that idea came from. Not evident in the source documents.

The City put out a media releas last year.
http://princegeorge.ca/cityservices/utilities/districtenergy/Documents/DDES%20June%207.pdf

It states: “The B.C. Gas Tax Agreement is a tripartite agreement between the Federal and Provincial Government, and the Union of B.C. Municipalities delivering infrastructure funding to local governments for capital projects that lead to cleaner air, cleaner water or reduced greenhouse gas emissions.”

That is one of those interesting spin sentences that tells the truth, but does not tell the entire truth. When I read that sentence and I know nothing other than what it tells me in the media release, I think I and most other people who even give a chit would assume that is all the money could be used for.

Nothing could be further from the truth and this is the very type of information manipulation I am seeing more and more of.

That is not what “transparency” and “conversation” means to me.

“Has to be some sort of a difference.”

I agree. I am not sure what it is. I have some opinions, but they are not founded on objective tests or close observation.

I do know that the base makes a lot of difference and that the base for heavy traffic volumes as well as heavy vehicles is different than lighter city traffic.

For instance, our local subdivison roads are 35 years old and have never been repaved. In fact, I do not recall any potholes. They do have a lot of expansion cracks, but they have been sealed on a few occasions. You can see those seals on PGMAap aerials. The latest versions are excellent resolution.

My opinion is that the problem is not the same for all roads or all parts of roads. I think some parts need to go back down to the actual gravel base. Other parts it is simply a matter of putting the new surface down properly based on such things as mix, compaction, adherance, absence of moisture such as morning dew in the fall for late paving, too soon after a rainfall, adherance at adjacent pours (this is one of the most common problems and if you travel roads such as Ospika and Tabor it is very obvious that is one of the first areas to fail.

It even comes down to making sure that joint is at a place with the least amount of wheel impact. That joint, therefore, should be at the location where the white line is on a 2 lane travelled path. That is not always the case in this city. If you notice, that is where highways has the joint.

So often we keep doing the same things and expecting different results. I do not know why this is so difficult.

We are not the first city in history to have these freeze thaw challenges. With my limited knowledge on the subject of road building and asphalt content, I don’t have any specific recommendations of what to do different. But somebody does.

Having city workers driving around town with a shovel and cold asphalt mix on the back of a flat deck and packing it down with a pair of size 10 boots is not the solution. It’s not even an acceptable, temporary fix.

I don’t care if they have filled 3 times the potholes already. Has anyone inspected the quality if their work. It’s absolutely unacceptable.

I ride a motorcycle and drive a vehicle with low profile tires. (as many do these days) I bottomed out in my car at Ospika and Tyner yesterday. Couldn’t avoid the craters.

I was wondering about those low profile tires….I havn’t drove my truck on the south Ospika hill for 2 months now. Wow is the “by-pass” ever getting crowded.