Edmonton councillor is fed up with never-ending pothole issue

An Edmonton city councillor seems to have done what most thought was impossible for a government official – notice all the potholes.

In a Facebook post, City Councillor Jon Dziadyk committed to focusing his efforts on improving the quality of the city’s infrastructure. “Nothing frustrates me more than this! (I am working to fix this).”

Dziadyk spoke to The National Telegraph about how the pothole issue harms the conditions of drivers vehicles in Edmonton. Still, it is hard to hold the city responsible for damage done by the potholes.

“Residents have some opportunity for compensation to private vehicles from damage caused by potholes, but it is a high bar and therefore often hard to prove that the damage was caused solely by hitting a pothole,” Dziadyk said.

Dziadyk continued stating the city has not adequately addressed the pothole issue in the past while not compensating residents for the problems they cause.

“This is wrong. Residents pay taxes to have the infrastructure in good working order. Routinely, we know that there will be potholes and so we should double down on our efforts to repair them so that residents can safely get to where they are going. Perhaps the City needs more fear that residents will be compensated for the damage they cause if that will provide the incentive to keep our roads in working order. As with other areas of law, compensation should be provided if the damage is proven and providing proof should not be overly demanding.”

Dziadyk advocated that Edmonton needs to step up its standards and be more strict with who gets city contracts to do roadwork based on past performance. He said, “Regarding the companies completing the work, they need to meet the standards that we set out, and they should not be re-awarded contracts if they do not perform,” which seems to be a public policy philosophy that has finally taken hold in Edmonton.

By mid-March, 15,615 potholes were filled by Edmonton road crews, after residents complained about the expensive tire and wheel damage incurred because of its roadways, costing drivers as much as $2,000 at their mechanics shop.

Those numbers doubled from the 5,700 potholes filled late-February, which is on-par with 2018 and 2019 numbers at the time.

The city has so far reported 90,000 asphalt repairs, which is already 4,000 more than all of 2019. There were 9,000 individual road repairs done just in the past week. The environment in Edmonton seems apt to tackle the pothole issues now. 

Residents have taken to social media to express their frustrations. However, the city is ahead of schedule filing potholes, according to reports.

With traffic volume down 50 per cent due to the local State of Emergency, the quieter roads have given workers far fewer issues making road repairs.

Due to pressure to raise standards from councillors like Dziadyk, the new normal in Edmonton may be the expectation that the city will be contentious of taking care of the roads, and potholes aren’t to be expected on every street.