Pothole season has come early for the City of Estevan.
While they usually have a reprieve until the spring, the wild temperature swings the area has experienced this winter have caused havoc on local streets and exposed the sorry shape that many of them are in.
City manager Jim Puffalt said they are doing what they can to deal with the situation, but added the weather has been a major factor as the roads have gone through a number of freezing and thawing cycles which is especially tough on asphalt.
"I don't recall when we've had a year like this, it's been horrible," said Puffalt. "It will be our obvious priority as soon as we can."
Puffalt said crews will use a cold asphalt mix to repair the worst areas, but cautioned that is only a temporary solution until they can get hot asphalt from their provider.
Although there are a number of areas where potholes have already sprung up, the situation is particularly bad on sections of Sixth Street, 13th Avenue and Souris Avenue north where a number of large potholes have made life difficult for local drivers.
Puffalt admitted that Souris Avenue north is "horrible" and the City will do what it can to provide a decent driving surface this year.
"We have a fair amount of money in the budget for pothole patching and it is probably going to stretch what we have to give us a driving surface for the year," he said.
However, a permanent fix will not come until at least 2014 as the City has entered into a cost-sharing agreement with the provincial government on Highway 47 through Estevan and cannot begin rebuilding the road until they get approval.
Puffalt said as much as they would like to move forward with the work now, doing so would cost the taxpayers of Estevan an estimated $7 million. He did add they are meeting with the Ministry of Highways this week and would be mentioning the sorry state of Highway 47.
"We are meeting next week so maybe we'll take some pictures and say 'listen guys, we need to do some increased work on this road to get them through,'" Puffalt said. "They are paying for 65 per cent of the north section and 55 per cent of the south. It's quite a bit of money."
Puffalt added the City is also calculating their snow removal costs to this point and expects to have a report on that in the near future.
