Cranbrook’s roads are suffering through some tougher-than-usual late winter conditions due to the repeated freeze-thaw cycle.
City officials said these conditions have been causing headaches for road crews.
Public Works has been filling some of the same potholes daily only to have them fail after the nighttime freezing,” said city officials. “Like many other jurisdictions, the City has tried various winter patching materials over the years but none of them hold up well to heavy traffic loads and the type of moisture conditions we are seeing.”
“Even if the patches only last a day or two, it is the City’s responsibility to keep up the patching work to maintain safe passage until a longer-term repair can be completed.”
The city said its crews will start working hard to get on top of the issue next week.
“With no major snow events in the forecast, Public Works will be moving staff from the snow removal team starting March 11, 2024, to focus on infrastructure repairs,” said city officials. “One afternoon shift will remain on for street sweeping operations.”
Cranbrook’s Public Works department uses work order management software to track the worst areas so major repair and resurfacing budgets are focused on roads with the most maintenance issues.
“Staff are currently reviewing the areas that are failing under these continued freeze-thaw conditions and are looking to prioritize the streets that will be slated for reconstruction or major repairs in early 2024,” said city officials. “Priorities will be based on the severity of failure, road classification, emergency vehicle routes and other criteria to ensure the highest priority failures are addressed first.”
City officials said they are monitoring the overall road strength, as seasonal load restrictions have been in place since Feb. 13.
“These load restrictions are meant to alleviate the impact of the heaviest commercial and industrial traffic during the time when the road structure is at its weakest, typically just after the frost comes out of the ground and the soils remain very saturated,” said city officials.
You can help the city stay on top of pothole repairs by reporting them using the 311 app or by calling 311.
