Dear Editor,
Rarely I disagree with you strongly enough to comment, but ‘Pothole frustrations’ (Aug. 22) tipped the scales. You state:”The vast majority (of our roads) are in pretty good shape”. Myself, and many others with road maintenance experience, would argue that in fact, our roads are in deplorable condition. From my early teen years (in the late ’70s) for the next twenty years, and regular seasonal part-time work since, I’ve worked for or with many local roads departments. Most follow very similar practices of common, standard, sensible operating procedures. Meaford is the exception, and has become the example in many other municipalities of ‘what not to do’.
I’ve been clear to council and staff that if they have a new way to get the job done that’s better, I’ll be the first to praise them, but our different methods are counterproductive. I’ve tried, at length, to discuss with the roads department and council (notice I said ‘tried’) our unorthodox grading practices, lack of thorough pothole patching, damaged signs and guardrails (for months if not years), among many other issues. Drive any of our gravel roads and you’ll notice that with rare exceptions, our roads all slope to one direction or the other, rather than a proper, even crowned surface. This encourages washouts, since all the stormwater rushes to one side of the road surface. This situation is made worse by the ridge of wasted gravel left at the sides of the road, holding stormwater on the road surface instead of running off the sides. Combined with the odd practice of frequently lightly grading select patches of road, while leaving the rest of the potholed, washboard road untouched, our graders often accomplish little; sometimes leaving negative results.
As you mention, Councillor Bartley frequently states that our infrastructure spending is higher than other municipalities. Unfortunately, his statement is meant to be favourable, not the apology it should be. Simply spending more money doesn’t guarantee favourable results, as anybody can wastefully spend more, without results to show, and we do just that. Graders accomplishing little or nothing, trucks driving past damaged signs or potholes and the numerous other ‘time killing’ practices that occur frequently, cost us money, with no gain in road conditions or public safety, which is supposed to be the purpose of this department. I think most of our outside workers are able and willing to do better, if properly supported by management.
To the potholes themselves: I’ve been raising alarms about this for several years. The general public views a pothole as a potentially damaging annoyance, but the problem lies deeper, literally. When a gravel road gets wet, it eventually dries by sun or wind. When a road is hard-topped, the surface is sealed on top. A pothole allows moisture to leach into the road base, where it can’t completely dry up. It just erodes the road bed, so patching as thoroughly and frequently as needed is paramount if long term road health is to be maintained. We will see badly potholed roads stay untouched for months. When they are patched, it’s never thorough, or even remotely complete, so the road continues to deteriorate, and the life of the road decreases. Seeing a couple holes filled, beside several more ignored, is normal. I’ve enclosed a photo of a recent example, a road that is in bad condition with many holes in the tar and chip surface. While the entire 2km stretch is a pothole minefield, about ten patches were applied. As you see in the photo, a half meter long pothole was left untouched, sandwiched between two patches. This is normal procedure, sadly.
Our roads department has double the number of managers, and a larger outside staff than other comparable municipalities. The results should reflect that.
Bill Cameron, Bognor
