City of Montreal has filled 111,000 potholes so far in 2023

Some drivers might not believe it, but city crews have already filled more than 111,000 potholes in Montreal so far this year.

It's a colossal task that the City of Montreal says is mostly done for this year, noting the worst of pothole season is winding down.

By comparison, 96,800 potholes were filled in all of 2022, according to a news release from the city.

The city has conducted six operations to fill the roads with mechanized pothole plugging machines since January, with an investment of $2.5 million.

The 111,000 potholes filled is considerably less compared to the years 2017 to 2019, when crews fixed an average of 176,000 potholes. Figures from 2020 and 2021 — 116,000 and 60,000, respectively — are also lower due to the pandemic.

About 30 per cent of the roads are in "bad shape," said city spokesperson Philippe Sabourin Friday, which is why the city invested $880 million over 10 years, starting this year, to fix Montreal's arterial roads.

An example of the work that has taken place so far with the investment is the repair to Sainte-Catherine Street between Morgan Avenue and Viau Street, Sabourin said.

Province-wide, about half of the roads are in poor condition, said David Marcille, a spokesperson for CAA Quebec.

Marcille said pothole damage is getting more expensive. Costs have gone up for parts due to inflation, so garages have to pass on those costs to consumers.

"Since 2020, it's gone up 20 to 35 per cent. So it's quite a significant increase," he said in an interview Friday.

A CAA study in 2021 showed that Quebec had the worse roads in the country and that Quebecers doled out an average of $258 a year per car to maintain their cars — double the national average — because of the state of province's roads.
 

Marcille said Quebec underfunds the work needed to fix roads and that part of the problem is that the infrastructure is quite old and in need of repair.

Last year, the province announced it would invest $1.5 billion on maintaining roadways, with Montreal receiving just over $1 billion of the total.

Residents can report potholes when they see them by calling 311 or by using the city's smartphone apps for iOS and Android devices.

Another third-party tool launched last June also lets people report potholes across the city and find out when they've been fixed. 

With files from CTV News Montreal's Angela Mackenzie