Montreal’s pothole-filling road crews are being kept busy by a fresh batch of holes caused by the sudden thaw.

The city has dispatched eight squads to fill the gaping crevices as part of the effort to take on the 35,000 to 50,000 holes it fills each year.

But some Montrealers don't blame the weather, opting instead to consider the axle-busting chasms a result of political neglect and ineptitude.

“Don’t put that on the weather,” one told CTV Montreal. “I think it's the whole structure, the politics, that's the problem, it’s nothing to do with the weather, because we have other cities in other countries and the roads are perfect.”

A city official noted that this year’s pothole battle got off to a slow start because workers were diverted by other tasks. “This December we had two snow removal operations so we couldn't do it,” said City of Montreal representative Jacques-Alain Lavallee.

He said that the problem is less dire than it was last year at this time.

“Let me tell you that we don’t have that many potholes as opposed to last year. It's just that last year we had done one operation in December,” he said.