Potholes are revealing themselves as the snow melts. (Cam Lee/northeastNOW Staff)

By Cam Lee

Pothole season

A spring reality: potholes a common sight in Melfort

Apr 9, 2020 | 1:18 PM

The snow has come and gone and come back again, but the off-and-on melting has revealed potholes on streets and highways.

The City of Melfort is asking residents to inform them of any potholes they may encounter.

Director of Development, Planning and Community Relations Brent Lutz told northeastNOW residents can report any issues within the city to city hall weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon. They can also email city@melfort.ca.

“We will be monitoring the situation on the streets but obviously we don’t necessarily get down every street, and we appreciate the public keeping us informed and our crews will be responding accordingly,” Lutz said.

That response will be a little different in the near future, with city crews forced to keep distance between themselves due to COVID-19 protocols.

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“Our staff are responding with only one person per vehicle, and when they are working on a site they are required to maintain a distance from each other,” Lutz said.

The city is currently using a cold mix product that he said will at least temporarily solve pothole problems until a hot mix is used in the summer as a more permanent fix.

A pothole on MacLeod Ave. E. in Melfort that has been recently been filled with cold mix (Cam Lee/northeastNOW Staff)

City crews won’t have to worry as much about fixing one stretch of road this spring. Saskatchewan Drive was resurfaced last summer.

“The maintenance that’s required at Saskatchewan Drive now and into the future is going to be much less that what we were having to do to keep that street passable for people,” Lutz said.

That allows the crews to spend time working on other streets in the community.

He added crews often have to spend a considerable amount of time redirecting traffic, and ensuring the public and staff stay safe. However, he said the amount of traffic has been reduced with people staying home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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cam.lee@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @camlee1974