Montreal's poor infrastructure is legendary and in the range of 30,000 to 45,000 potholes are patched up every year. Ouch. Now this is more than just an aesthetic annoyance or conversational ice-breaker. Poor road conditions cost residents time, money, health and wellbeing. Poor road conditions also increase fuel consumption by up to 35%!
Montreal Weather
Roads are composed of roughly three layers: the top layer of asphalt, the concrete bed (around 20 centimeters in depth) and the layer underneath the road called the subgrade. During the warmer months, water from the rain seeps through to the subgrade but if it has nowhere to go -- as many of Montreal roads have no drainage system -- it stays put.
The stagnant water then freezes during winter, increasing in volume. When spring comes, the ice melts but the pavement does not regain its original shape or strength, in much the same way that a cracked bottle of wine left in the freezer too long won't miraculously uncrack. The weight of vehicles passing above quickly breaks down the expanded pavement and any holes that might have been created underneath, leaving fissures. These cracks eventually -- and much quicker than we'd like -- become potholes.
Yes, Montreal does have some rather extreme freeze-thaw weather that encourages pothole formation. And yes, the highways may be overused and perhaps too many heavy cargo vehicles are running on roads not built to sustain so much weight. But take Vermont. Their winters are comparable to ours, and yet their roads feel like race tracks in comparison. What gives?
Low Priority on Road Maintenance From the '70s Through the '90s
It's no secret municipal governments placed infrastructure maintenance low on the priority scale in past decades. They also had zero access to funding from the federal government hence less money.
But finger-pointing aside, this lack of attention left Montreal roads in a pitiful state and as much as we'd like to blame current city authorities for everything, they were left with a mess to sort through. However, federal programs like Building Canada, a strategic fund that invests in large-scale municipal infrastructural projects, can go a long way to help city authorities clean up our roads.
Short-Term Patching Vs. Long-Term Maintenance
While the city has some major road maintenance catching up to do and access to significant federal funding to make that happen, there's been a fair bit of criticism around the way it's happening.
City council all too often seems to focus more on improving patching technology and execution. But the catch is the patches, no matter how innovative in their composition, don't last beyond two to five years and only cover the surface while the foundations of our roads continue to deteriorate. It's like treating skin cancer with cosmetics.
City council often claims that in depth lasting repairs are much more expensive and they're right. For example, cracked concrete beds below the asphalt would cost easily double to repair as opposed to simply resurfacing the asphalt. However, the resurfaced pavement will crack within three years whereas the roads with repaired foundations will last 20 years. You do the math.
Consult the City of Montreal website for more information on current road repair initiatives.
Consult the federal government's Building Canada website to learn more about infrastructure funding.
Return to Montreal Pothole Survival Guide Main Page
Sources
Maclean's, McGill News, McGill Headway, Jeremy Searles, CAA Quebec Pothole Watch
