Dodging Potholes Used To Be Funny In Prince George

Friday, April 04, 2008 03:46 AM

I think we should ask the Province to bring in a new law under the Highway Traffic Act; it should be called Pothole Impairment. The law would exclude people from prosecution if they were caught weaving in and out of traffic in Prince George.

Pot hole dodging has become not a sport as the spring wears on but a menace. Watching drivers trying at the last moment to prevent the front end of their vehicle from being taken off may at first look rather funny but then the humour quickly disappears.

About ten years ago the council of the day decided in their infinite wisdom to cut the road budget . It was an effort to keep the city costs down during and before an election year . The argument was that the roads appeared to be in good shape so why spend money on them?

It was a bit like saying that you don’t need to change the oil in your car. You may not need to do it but eventually the chickens will come home to roost.

Pot hole contests and an increase in our taxes has so far done little in correcting the problem. By now the City Council and management of the city should be aware that roads are a very important part of this city.

If they don’t realize that, then come election time this fall, some changes are in order.

I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion.

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Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 03:46 AM in Views by Ben Meisner

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Comments

Posted by: Hindsight on April 4 2008 6:51 AM

I had two blown out tires and one bent rim this winter becacuse of these potholes. Actually got mad enough and traded in my fuel efficient car for a not so fuel efficient truck...adding more pollution to our air shed...no wonder people prefer trucks in P.G.

Posted by: owl on April 4 2008 6:52 AM

Has anyone noticed that the moonscape of potholes between Central and Carney has been fixed for the time being to a temporary adequate standard for probably a month now from what used to be there.

That shows me that a reasonable job can be done during transitional winter/spring weather.

We have money to put addtional crews on to get the rest of the city done. Show us pictures of three or four different crews going at it. Get some more crews through Council approval.

We should stall/stop the police station, the energy plant and any other major project ready to spend money in its tracks until the road conditions have been improved to a reasonable level.

Posted by: heidi1555 on April 4 2008 7:11 AM

I agree owl.

I'm getting so sick of hugging the ditch side so not to have a head on collision with the person dodging the pothole. I can't believe people would rather risk a head on collision than slow down and go around the pothole to the right. I always go around the pot hole to the ditch side. I understand sometimes it happens so fast and its a reaction and to go to the ditch side could end you up in the ditch because of losing control on the gravel... We need to slow down as if we are driving in winter conditions until our roads get fixed. I along with others would love to live.

On Northwood Pulpmill Road there is a huge pothole right in front of YRB. Kind of humorous but not.

Posted by: diplomat on April 4 2008 7:39 AM

Third world conditions in a country that prides itself to be number one. Here is an idea: Hand out blindfolds to visitors when they arrive at Prince George Airport.

I have given up on reporting potholes, even the real killer ones. It would keep me busy the better part of a day...

"About ten years ago the council of the day decided in their infinite wisdom to cut the road budget." Kinsley was in charge then, of course. I remember that at that time he commented on the radio that PG has the best roads of any northern city anywhere in the world (!) in spite of a few potholes...even then people were calling in and expressing their concerns about the atrocious moonscape conditions.

Over and out. Crunch. Crunch. Bang. Bang.

Posted by: 80shovel on April 4 2008 8:16 AM

Judging by how deep some of them pot holes are....I'm thinkin that would be the quickest and cheapest way to get to China.

Posted by: lostfaith on April 4 2008 9:11 AM

The city comes down Domano and patches every second pothole but leaves the worst ones untouched.

Posted by: Andyfreeze on April 4 2008 9:14 AM

I think the potholes are the worst I have seen in 20 years!
It is always bad,but this year they are major!
This is what happens when you put patches on the patches on top of more patches!

Posted by: caranmacil on April 4 2008 10:33 AM

Exaggerations are fun sometimes but come on, 'third world conditions'? Having been to some third world places i can say that we have a ways to go here yet. I liked the title of BEns article. Maybe the reason that dodging potholes USED to be funny is that people USED to have more of a sense of humour and took themselves and their 'plights' a little less seriously? I have driven pickups and minivans in this twon for 20 odd years and i have yet to need front end work due to potholes.

Posted by: diplomat on April 4 2008 10:50 AM

In third world countries they have either gravel roads or worn out roads full of potholes - they can't afford to have better roads or to fix them!

What do you say to that? Sounds familiar?

If the City would supply me with a Hummer and pay the gas bills for it I wouldn't even be mentioning the potholes, believe me!

Potholes damage suspensions, wheels and tires!

Can I bring my repair bills to those who still have a sense of humour?

Dodging potholes is not fun - it is dangerous and can lead to accidents and damage vehicles. It has absolutely nothing to do with whether one has a sense of humour or not.

What are we paying our annual taxes and the newly added special road maintenance taxes for?

We pay enough taxes every year to demand better than this, that's my opinion.

Posted by: maritimer on April 4 2008 11:21 AM

Bandaids are not the solution, bypasses are. Where there are transport trucks on city streets, there will be potholes. As luck would have it, the city is currently working on the Cameron street bridge. This will significantly reduce the truck traffic and in turn the number of potholes on 5th Ave. When funds are available additional bypasses will eventually be built, however as long as there are transport trucks heading straight through town there will be a pothole problem. Why invest in bandaids when amputation is the real solution?

Posted by: diplomat on April 4 2008 11:39 AM

Great comment! Let's build the bypasses and work on the atrociously deteriorated roads and streets in some of the older subdivisions at the same time.

Pavement has a limited life span - even streets that have less traffic than main routes have cracks and potholes galore.

Patching and patching over the old patches again and again is a waste of money.

Posted by: owl on April 4 2008 11:57 AM

"as long as there are transport trucks heading straight through town there will be a pothole problem"

And they go along Domano? and 18th? and even University is now starting to break up ... not to mention the entrance to the University. Let's not pretend they are only where there is major truck traffic. In fact, in those locations it is quite good from what I can tell.

Posted by: owl on April 4 2008 11:59 AM

Exaggeration??? I would not call potholes that can be seen from space an exaggeration ......

Posted by: maritimer on April 4 2008 12:36 PM

Obviously wherever there are moist fine grained soils (in our freeze thaw climate)that do not have a sufficient aggregate base depth, the ground will heave. As vehicles pass over the void created by the frost action , cracks will develop. The greater the load (ie transports), the greater the deflection of the aggregate base. This results in a larger pothole on trucking routes versus passenger car routes (assuming the aggregate depths are similar). Areas with reoccurring pothole�s on passenger car routes most likely have moist/wet soils with a high silt content, and an insufficient aggregate depth. In these cases the aggregate depth should be increased to avoid annual patching.

The only point I was trying to make is that whether the problem is caused because of a trucking route (ie increased load on the aggregate layer), and/or inadequate depth of the aggregate layer, simply patching the same pothole every year is a waste of money and is more expensive (in the long run) than solving the actual problem. But solving the actual problem will take time, money and patience.

Posted by: diplomat on April 4 2008 1:30 PM

Maritimer, you made a good point as to the basic problems!

"In these cases the aggregate depth should be increased to avoid annual patching."

The city does not wish to address the fact that this would require a complete rebuilding of the base + repaving.

Some streets are beyond PATCHING! It is a waste of time and money to continually patch the cracks and potholes which reappear as soon as the patching crew has left the scene!

Whole stretches of pothole fields and patched over cracks need to be properly dug up and repaved!

It's not rocket science!

Posted by: Harbinger on April 4 2008 2:25 PM

If the city does decide again to hire more pothole fillers, I sure hope they don't use percentages when requesting more employees. Some people on city council are not very good with percentages. Ahem!

Posted by: diplomat on April 4 2008 3:08 PM

This is the elaborate technical procedure:

a)sweep hole/crack with a broom
b)fill in with black stuff brought by shovel
c)stomp on it with boots
d)whack the stuff with the backside of shovel.

Main crew: two men, plus idling truck
One more person (Guardian Angel) directing
traffic, plus another idling truck.

Next visit required on Monday!

Posted by: Andyfreeze on April 4 2008 4:16 PM

There is no doubt that transport trucks etc. really take their toll on the by-pass.
Should have been a by-pass route around the city years ago!
Get it done!

Posted by: NMG on April 4 2008 6:57 PM

"Actually got mad enough and traded in my fuel efficient car for a not so fuel efficient truck"

Why would that help? Wouldn't the extra weight of the truck (and corresponding impact of gravity) offset the fact that the suspension and rims are also beefier?

I know when I hit a pothole in my wife's car, it may not feel great, but it's nothing like hitting one in my 1/2 ton where it feels like the entire front end is going to fall off. Sometimes I think it's actually worse to have a heavier vehicle just due to the extra force (because of the mass of the vehicle) that gets transmitted to the components.

Posted by: duffer on April 5 2008 4:19 PM

And we need a performing arts centre? Absolutely

Posted by: caranmacil on April 5 2008 5:09 PM

Maybe sense of homour was the wrong expression. Maybe i meant people took things like pot holes less seriously. Maybe we just drove slower. I see a lot of folks driving around PG. Going a bit above the limit makes me the slowest driver out there most days. I have seen people swerve into my lane to avoid potholes. Usually they are going faster than the limit. I am not saying that there are no pot holes to be fixed (there always will be). I just wonder when people are going to tire of the same old complaint fests every spring and start thinking about some of the more serious problems we have in this city.
And i stick by my comments regarding 3rd world roads. If you have travelled anywhere in the 3rd world you would see just how exaggerated the comparison is.
I drive in this town every day almost. I have done so for more than 20 years. I dont incurr a lot of front end damage. Why do you folks?

Posted by: diplomat on April 5 2008 8:47 PM

"If you have travelled anywhere in the 3rd world you would see just how exaggerated the comparison is."

I have driven Mexico north to south and back (coast highways, through the middle, down past Monterrey), Yucatan etc. several times starting about 35 years ago. Potholes there looked the same as the ones I encounter today in Prince George, Quesnel, Vanderhoof and so forth. At that time Mexico was a third world country. The roads are probably better there now. The last times I went was by plane.

I compare apples to apples, potholes to potholes.

Sorry I hurt your feelings of pride about Canada.

"I just wonder when people are going to tire of the same old complaint fests every spring and start thinking about some of the more serious problems we have in this city."

Hopefully they will never stop complaining and will never accept these awful conditions and replace the ones who are in charge with others who can deal with the situation much better and then we won't have to complain anymore.