What about Domano Blvd., what about University Way (that is a real disgrace), what about Upland St. between 20th and Stratcona. What about, what about, what about!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am a taxi driver, I drive night shift, and if I hit another crater with my cab, I am going to come unglued.

Shearer, tell the damn truth, I haven't seen a pothole crew out in the last week! You a$$h*le$ should be all fired. This city is a disgrace!!

1952, I have resided here since 1952, and I am fead up with the bull$hit coming out of city hall.

I'm leaving this summer, and I am sure I won't be back!

Had it up to here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and one more thing. My daughter came back for a visit last fall. She got on my PC/ Facebook, told all her friends, that she was in "Stinky Town". Guess what, they all new where she was. She said to me "Dad, we will never move back here, this place is a $h!t hole" Now that is something to be proud of!!

Hey Taxi...why are you waiting for summer to leave, If you don't like it here, go now.

I'm just getting everything in order. Leaving for a visit on April 3rd. Are you planning a see you later party.

How long have you lived here, hiding behind this site? Were you born here like I was,in 1952!! Yes sir eeee, this is my TOWN, I am one of the poor soles that helped to build it! Got any other wise comments wrinkledawg!!

Why is it, that you people want to spew on truth, and ignore the real problem, I stated my oppinion, agreeing with Ben, and you have to post your brainless comment!

Pretty sad for you wrinkledawg!

Shearer says "The pothole problem doesn't seem to be any worse this year than in the past"... you've got to be kidding! We don't have roads with potholes in them, we have a series of craters with some wanna-be road around them.

as far as patching them goes, they did the River Rd overpass off first ave a few weeks ago, and now they're as bad as they ever were. All the material has already come out. Not very effective or cost efficient.

The thing is the pothole problem is out of control, just like last year and every year that I have lived here ( since 2001 ). So maybe no worst than any other year, but any other year is far worst than any other city seems to have ! The city should pull all funding to any tourism / beautification efforts until such time the roads are fixed. The tourists already speak of our air to their buddies and combined with the bent rims on their RV's they make darn sure we are just a spot along the way as they get through town as fast as possible.

The BCR site is a disgrace. Especially that stretch in front of Rustad's. I just can't believe it is legal for a pot hole to grow as large as some of the ones out there. ICBC should close down some of these roads until further maintenance is done to bing them up to minimum standards.

Seen the crews pounding patches into holes full of water the other day...so when it forze the patches popped up, traffic ran over these patches and destroyed them and now we are back to pot holes again....maybe they should find out how to do it properly...and what I saw sure didn't seem right....maybe if the roads were paved properly to start with they would last longer????

check out the "new pavement" on highway 16 coming into town from the west. Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't that repaved just a year and a half ago?? The intersection at highway 16 and 97 is full of potholes, the seams in the pavement are already opening up. Check out the section from the light by Northland Dodge, up to the intersection of Hwy. 97. Pothole everywhere, not even two years old!

This City is a hole! We get the seconds, if you know what I mean.

Danny boy, you better take charge. Our roads need to be fixed properly, NOW!! No 4Th Ave., no PAC, no nothing!! Every damn dime of our taxes has to go into road repairs, SCREW the special interest groups. Are you listening CITY COUNCIL! Every tax dollar needs to go into what it is supposed to..... period

Fire protection, police, water and sewer, and FRICKEN ROADS

Kamloops here I come Baby

Prince George, enjoy your rotten roads

There is a piece of equipment which is in use in quite a few cities in Canada and other countries, even in a climate as cold as Alaska's.

It's called an automated pothole patcher. Google it. It is manned by one person sitting in an enclosed cab from where all the controls are operated.

It blows dirt and water out of the pothole with an intense blast of hot air and it completely dries the pothole out before it pumps the hot paste of the patching material into the hole.

It then tamps it down, evens it out and it coats the patch with a powder which prevents it from sticking to tires while it is curing.

It's no rocket science, it's been around for quite a while and it beats the old manual method of shoveling the stuff into a wet hole and beating it into submission with the flat side of a shovel.

City Hall does not believe in automating this, so we are stuck in the dark ages.

Taxinapothole, I think you have suffered more than the rest of us because you try to make a living with your taxi and see the incredibly bad roads every day!

No PAC, no 4th Avenue, no luxury items BEFORE the crumpled and endlessly patched- over roads are REPLACED!

Got any room in your suitcase taxinapothole!

My wife is 44 years old, lived here all her life and now she has had enough with this city also.... nothing changes.

diplomat:

Have you passed this info on to the City?
I have always thought that the patching of potholes here have been archaic.

I was talking to a person yesterday about the potholes. He has resided here since 1973, and I have been a resident since 1976. Neither of us remember the pothole problem as being so bad in past decades as it is now.

I mentioned that the city rarely re-paves a street now, where they completely remove the old asphalt and put new asphalt down. They now do the hot resurface in place, where they remove the old pavement, grind it up, add a bit of new asphalt, and then lay it down again.

My friend asked if this process could be part of the problem. The majority materials in this process are used (old) and contaminated. Maybe this type of process is not suitable for our climate. No scientific analysis here, just a "What if".

Shearer needs to be fired. If he cannot recognize the real problem, then he is a big part of the problem. We need someone who recognizes the problem. That is step number one in sovling any such problem.

People here have posted over and over again in the past year about machines that appear to be able to do the trick. Nothing happened. Has anyone taken this further. FOrget about taking it to Shearer. Take it directly to the mayor. Take it to Council.

I suggest we get some together and go to Council wiht a slide presentation. Let's see how the whole Council will waffle. Let's wee where the problem is beyond even Shearer. I mean, Councillorts do not hover around the city. They must drive. If they cannot see the problem and they buy into Shearer's BS about freeze thaw cycles, which every grade school kid knows, then they are no good having on Council. When else will the wool be pulled over their eyes.

I have been here for over 35 years years. I keep saying everyday as I try to dodge the potholes, how this is by far the worst year I have ever seen it.

What happened to the tax dollars we were giving up front startign last year to put some money into this?

I have not seen one single crew out. Why can I drive around the City and not see one crew out? Why do I drive around the City and, other than one time, never drive over fixed potholes? Where are the crews fixing the potholes, Quesnel?

We do not need spin from Shearer. We need elbow grease.

Just think of all the benefits the pot hole filled streets of PG provide. Our city fathers may have a hidden agenda. Given the state of the streets finding anyone speeding is probably non-existant as they are driving well below the speed limit just trying to dodge the pot holes. Instead of infastructure spending PG pot holes have created a bumper crop business for Kal Tire, Auto Magic, OK Tire, and other auto service centers in supplying replacement, tires, rims, and shock absorbers.
In fact I heard a rumour the large shock absorber manufacturer, Monroe, were going to set up a shock absorber test facility in PG as all the infastructure was in place. IPG should get right on top of this.
Just think how many roads could have been repaved for cost of extending the runway at Mirabel West.
No more coin for the PAC, deep six the community energy system fiasco, forget spending millions on the Boundry road to nowhere, and can the 4th ave beautification plan. No one goes downtown anyway.
Get a life council. The Citizens of PG want the roads fixed.

City employees do not read this stuff. I am sure of ti! We need to group and go to city hall with our complaints. It is the only way they will listen. Opinion 250 means nothing to anybody other than the 50 or so who come. I hear all of you and feel exactly the same but here is not the way to be heard.

Tell me when to all meet and I will be there with bells on.

Have a nice day all.

As much as I hate to break it to you PG haters I was in Kamloops that last two weekends in a row and any road that was over a five years old has some pretty significant potholes.

I did some serious driving around town...main roads, back roads, side roads and even though I expected it to be much better than PG I was surprised to see that it's not that much better (If at all).

I recall one bone rocking drive down the main road into Macaurther Island Park in particular. This is one of Kamloop's star attractions too.

Not saying PG isn't bad, just that we are far from alone in the need for some serious road repairs.

Starbright: "diplomat:

Have you passed this info on to the City?
I have always thought that the patching of potholes here have been archaic."

Yes, a couple of years ago. No results.

When Dan Rogers was councilor a study was done and Dan talked about it at city council meetings. It showed that about $60 million dollars would be needed to repair city streets and to build proper sidewalks - the lack of which is a disgrace.

Now that he is the mayor perhaps he can back up his concerns voiced then by putting priorities in order: No luxury wish-list borrowing and spending unless the above matters have been dealt with!

If we can borrow 100 million for a PAC, a new RCMP station, revamping of 4th Avenue etc, etc, we can instead borrow 30 million, apply for matching federal and provincial infrastructure grants and once and for all bring P.G. up to 21st century standards.

There are far too many roads and streets here that were paved decades ago and they are cracked, patched over and over again and full of pothole lumps.

There are crumbled and cracked sidewalks all over town which are unsafe and unusable. People are forced to walk in the streets instead, traffic and all.

The annual manual patching and crack filling costs a lot of money and usually doesn't last more than a couple of weeks.

Dan made a big show bicycling some streets during the last election campaign.

Now it's time for some decisive action.

A politician following through, I would love to see that one......

I saw a pot hole patching crew on the obstacle course called Ospicka ave. I felt like stopping the car, getting out, and kissing their feet out being the first crew sighted.

The list of streets to be repaved includes
Massey from Ospika to Westwood. I gather that this info was garnered directly from City Hall.

FTI, Massey from Ospika to Westwood was already repaved. Maybe someone at City Hall should be more on top of this.

If any part of Massey should be re-paved (not re-milled) it is from Westwood to Winnipeg at Parkwood Place.

Also, when paving season starts, if you are going to re-pave, repave an entire section from curb to curb, not just a little square here and a little infill there. Do it right the first time.

I have seen the tamping of cold asphalt by one shovel by one person doing a half-@%#&@ job while two others are standing around or sitting in the big white City truck with the engine running (I thought we had an anti-idling bylaw and the City was to set the standard?).

This is completely unacceptable. Complete staff rationalization required at City Hall, ie do more with less.

You are all right, but how do we make the City Administration "right". That is the question.

All the cars drive on the wrong side of the road on Cowart to avoid them. Its an accident waiting to happen.

Taxi in a pothole, overheard this morning mumbling: "Are you talkin' to me ?", "Are you talkin' to me ?"

Maybe this is a good time to store your guns off-site for a few days ?

By the way, good luck finding a place in Kamloops on a cabbie's wages. It'll soon be: livinginataxi.

still a lot of drivers going 10 to 15
over the speed limit,pot holes or not.
surely we should all be driving a bit slower considering the state of the roads.

Wasn't there a young female student who a few years back discovered something for filling in potholes that was very hardy and durable (I believe it was recycled plastic bottles) and could withstand the thaw. Does anyone out there remember the story? Did the city ever give this a test run?
The city streets are a disgrace and City Council should be ashamed of Prince George. Cowart Road and Domano Boulevard are indeed accidents waiting to happen. Mr Shearer should do some research and look into alternative methods of dealing with same old, same old every year.
Who was it said "the sign of madness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result"?
It would be a great idea to let City Hall know how we all feel about this and get some action for a change. Forget the Performing Arts Centre (PAC) and make it Pothole Action Committee (PAC). Now that would make some sense!

another thought on the side effects of these craters in out roads. . . I drive Austin Rd and University way everyday - I feel I am so busy 'crater dodging' that I am not paying close enough attention to anything else that might be going on! I am sure if a dog ran out or someone stopped suddenly - the outcome would not be good. It is a very real danger - Like driving in the middle of the road to avoid the broken/disintigrated pavement. I am all for a NEW method of repairing, what they are doing now isnt working!!

I am wondering if the condition of our roads will effect the response time of emergency crews. What if an emergency vehicle breaks down responding to a call after hitting a pothole. Could make for an interesting lawsuit. Any thoughts on this out there.

A few years ago I read in a newspaper about a guy in the US who went out and fixed or tried to fix a pothole. Apparently, he got arrested. for fooling around with city property. I did not read , however, how it turned out in court. Maybe someone should go out on any street and make it obvious that you are repairing a neglected pothole, and then see how things would turn out. Make sure some one calls a Mountie without a taser and see if you get arrested. Me? Nah! I ain't that adventurous. But, still full of suggestions.

Even the parking lot at city hall leaves much to be desired, too! Alas!

Observer
Yes there was the young lady that "invented" a new paving product. I believe all it was is that she added shredded rubber from tires into regular old asphalt and they did a test section up on Cranbrook hill. Don't know how it all worked out. Have never heard any more about it.

thanks lostfaith.
I am still trying to get more information ...

Hey Taxi Whats yer cab Number,I don't want to ride in it if I ever need a lift. I will give my business elsewhere, You have yourself a good day Okay. You, (_?_)
By the way (_x_) :o))

Observer, you can google "Gina Gallant" for the local paving experiments.

Thanks Mrs.R. Went to the website and found it very informative.