Prince George, B.C. – The  Roads Division  of the City of Prince George has provided  an update on  road maintenance  projects in the City and the good news is,   there have been far fewer potholes   to be repaired.

Fewer free-thaw cycles over the winter,  combined with  improvements to many roads in the City,   have  resulted in a 69% reduction in  potholes in need of repair in the early part of 2017.   Between January 1st and March 21st of this year  compared to the same period  in 2016.

There were  1530 potholes repaired during that period in 2017,  compared to  4,981 repaired in the same  period  a year ago.

As for street sweeping,  crews have been able to get an early jump on  removing the near 15 to 20 thousand tonnes of traction material that is spread on P.G. roads and sidewalks during the winter.

Typically, sweeping operations begin in early to mid-April.  For 2017, sweeping operations began the week of January 16th.  Mild weather allowed for bulk pickup in the downtown and major arterial roadways.   It is expected all sweeping  work will be complete by the end of May.

The  annual roadway line painting program  will see  595 pedestrian crossings, 463 stop bars and 609 directional arrows painted.  That’s in addition to the  normal lane markings  for  459 kilometers of  roadway.  It is no secret that  the paint being used just doesn’t last as long as the  paint  that used to be  used,  but, Federal regulations prohibit the use  of roadway marking paints that have  higher levels of  volatile organic compounds.  The City did try   applying a second coat of paint late in the season to a test area to see if  it would  extend the life of the paint, but  the result  was not  positive.   There was also  a test  using cold plastic.  As of March  of this year,  it appears cold plastic markings located directly in the wheel path of traffic have worn away substantially.  Markings outside of the wheel path have not been affected.  The cold plastic markings have a one year warranty and worn markings will be replaced by the contractor this line marking season.

Yellowhead Pavement Markings Inc  will be  doing the  line painting this year,  having been granted a one year option on the contract they took over in  2015 following  a  bad experience with another company.  It is expected the line painting will start in  mid May  and be complete by the end of June.