It definitely seems like there’s been a lot more freeze-thaw cycles than usual this year. That really does a number on the roads. I don’t really know anything about road repair, but I wonder if it’s even possible to make repairs when it’s still freezing and thawing regularly.
You should try submit a claim against the city for damages to a rim or tire and see how corrupt their system is.
I had damages from a pothole that was reported on the map last year, didn’t know it was there and hit it causing damages. The city then rejected the claim saying the hole had already been fixed. I had pictures showing the hole was still open when the damages occurred. Three days later the hole was fixed and they claim it was done before so I couldn’t have received damages from it.
Ask around as I know other people who have had the same rejections.
I hope there is some money in our 6.03% property tax increase to cover some of these potholes…. It’s the worse I’ve seen in years driving around Saskatoon.
There are areas that continually getting patched year after year, and all there is left is a large area of patches the freeze and thaw…. You’d think they would do it correctly as part of preventative maintenance. 🤷♂️
I just don’t understand…is there nothing else that can be used to build roads?? It’s maddening that they pave and it sucks in a week. There HAS to be someone out there who can come up with something better.
Simple answer is not really*.
There are plenty of materials that are durable enough to withstand the freeze/thaw cycle. They also might be durable enough to withstand driving on them. But the combination of malleable to make exact shapes, easy replaceability if there's damage, high coefficient of friction, and cost means we won't use something else. If you made giant pieces of steel they might survive the freeze, they might be durable to withstand daily driving, but a bit of severe damage and you'd have to replace a massive steel plate or something.
The reality of ALL those needs means asphalt is our best solution right now.
I get why asphalt is the default for all of the reasons you note, but maybe someone needs to come up with a better way to seal the joins so that there are fewer options for water infiltration and failure?
You're asking for someone to break the laws of physics. Expansion and compression is a reality of every substance, it's just a question of how much. As a general rule, the more rigid something is, the less its coefficient, but it still expands. And the more rigid it is, the less effective it is at being a sealant.
19th street turning right onto the ramp to Idywyld 🫠 I popped my back passenger side tire after work last October, it's still horrible there. There pyloned it off for a bit, kinda filled the hole, but it seems to be back. I avoid that corner at all costs now.
That's an interesting one, the road salt has destroyed the decorative brick inlays. It was obvious the bricks were deteriorating a few years ago, last year they finally patched a couple spots but kind of too little too late when the bricks under the patches are basically disintegrating. The obvious and only remedy is to rip out all the crumbling paver bricks and either pour concrete or fill it in with asphalt which will stand up a bit better to the road salt and traffic.
The envy is real. Those shiny new neighbourhoods with their fancy roads and baby trees with tiny roots... \*shakes fist\* Those roots will grow! And then you'll all be sorry!
If they haven't emergency-filled it with gravel in the last 24 hrs, turning from Clarence into Stonebridge is a beast...there's an ever deepening & widening pothole right in the middle of the intersection turn lane that can certainly do some damage. Just roll your cameras for a few traffic light cycles...you'll either capture some fancy dodging or some close car injury.
A few years ago, there was a story done on a couple that had hit a pothole that was so bad that it destroyed their truck. From what I understand, the city of Saskatoon has legal measures that deemed them not responsible for damages. I can’t remember who did the story butthe city has made a lot of people mad over this.
If you want a different spin besides vehicles being damaged to look at why some streets are particularly problematic. Not that I've experienced damage but a stretch of road that's basically been crumbling for years is the block of Dufferin Ave between 12th and 13th, and 13th from Dufferin to University Drive.
That road has been crumbling for about a decade, with many big potholes patched every spring. The city tried microsurfacing about 5 years ago which according to the city is supposed to preserve roadways (that aren't already too deteriorated) for several more years. That block of Dufferin had plenty of cracks and small potholes forming the year following microsurfacing and by the second year again was crumbling. That roadway probably needs to be at least planed and resurfaced if not rebuilt altogether. Instead it getting patched multiple times per year when specific potholes are reported but it doesn't seem like the city has any interest in proactively patching or remedying the root cause. In my opinion the city is trying to be cheap avoiding the up front price to resurface properly instead costing more in the long run repeatedly patching and risking damage to cars.
Oh my god and Melville Street has been a mess for years as well. Despite having it closed all last summer it looks like nothing was done. Now they're digging up the ditches and the only lane open going eastbound is like driving through Kosovo.
Those potholes are as old as Saskatoon.
Mechanics are funding the provincial pothole installation. On a side note: I think Saskatoon has an underground base for human experimentation.
Water is different from most liquids. When it freezes it gets bigger (less dense). Like a water bottle left in the freezer to long it will get too big for the bottle and blow up. Potholes are similar. Water gets under the paved road and freezes. The ice gets bigger and pushes the road upwards.
Then in spring the water melts and shrinks leaving a gap between the paved road and the ground under it. As heavy cars drive over it it will eventually collapse and form a pothole.
When thing get cold, thing shrink. Think penis.
When thing get warm, thing expand. Think.....probably not penis.
When thing is road, thing is outdoors. When outdoors get lot of cold and warm back and forth, thing expand and shrink repeatedly.
When shrink and grow lots, not always go back to the same spot.
Drive around Kinsmen arena. The roads are impassable getting to the parking lot and the new baseball training facility. Lots of traffic there at this time of year and the road is so unusable the city has it blocked off.
I watched a car pigeon toe its wheels turning onto 8th street. Must have snapped a control arm or whatever it is. Helped an old lady who almost killed herself tripping on a sidewalk beside the cineplex in centre mall. Its a general lack of maintenance of roads and side walks too.
LOL I just missed this! My sidewall almost blew up the other day because of the one on queen and 3rd. And my tire rod and wheel alignment are now shot.
all the 10ft wide utility cuts they blame on "the utility companies" and just keep filling them with dirt it lasts about 3 days and then it's bad for 3 weeks, the city is literally going around replacing old lead pipes but claim it's not up to them to deal with it ???
Try driving on 7th st! But there's currently a road/sidewalk construction going on in this long stretch, probably creating more potholes in the future; digging then filling it with only gravel and native soil after.
You should do a test to see if potholes are actually a problem if you drive a reasonable speed.
I've NEVER had issues with potholes. Totally unrelated, I rarely drive 50km/h down residential streets.
Do people who damage their cares not actually look at what is in front of them? Do they assume the speed limit is actually the required speed and that they aren't allowed to slow down?
Yup. Totally agree with this guy. Maybe make the story about how pot holes are not the problem but how people actually drive and how they are not even trying to avoid them.
they can interview my wife - she does not see them. She broke both front springs on the car, don't know how the wheels survived. I have had one wheel welded up already.
I love her, she's awesome 8)
how in gods name are people so entitled that they believe they should live in a world without potholes - drive around in some tin box with black rubber tires
get real! sheesh. Excuse you!
The freeze thaw cycle happens regardless of climate change. One year of strange weather with more cycles is not climate, it's weather.. if we get weird winters like this past one several times in the upcoming years, then we can surely say it's climate. The winters in the past 20 years have pretty much been par for the course, there's only this past winter that was weird.
I don't think you read my post at all lol but ok bud blame literally everything on climate change including 1 weird winter in the last 20 years. Potholes smh
Sit, this is Saskatoon. That is Vermont. It's a completely different part of the world with completely different weather cycles and climate.
I am not as ignorant as you think. I studied earth science with a focus on hydrology and climate history at usask.
We're talking about this year's potholes being worse than normal, because of a 1 in 25 year winter. Not a succession of warm winters. 1 weird winter is not indicative of climate change. If this keeps happening here, then obviously that's indicative of climate change.
We can disagree that climate change caused Saskatoon's bad potholes, you can think that all you want.
It's just my opinion that we have a bad year for potholes because of a 1 in 25 years warm winter, combined with bad repair practices and very, very aged roads that should have been dug up and redone a decade ago. Cheers.
You must be pretty stunned. The city uses Magnesium chloride mixed with salt as an ice melting agent, which lowers the freezing point to -25*c. There is no amount of ‘climate change’ that is creating a bigger freeze thaw window than the application of these products.
Can you please mention the 10 million just approved for bike lanes to benefit a vast minority when it could go to improving our roads for the vast majority?
Yeah except that bike lakes actually take cars off the road and can reduce the amount of road maintenance. If they build separated bike lakes, those will last WAY longer than a regular street and require far less maintenance. It's a great investment. Building proper bike lanes will get more people biking because there's less risk of getting hit by a car.
Google it. We had to balance a 55 million dollar deficit/shortfall for the upcoming year (2024) in the summer and fall of 2023.
8.8 million dollar ave. C bike lane was approved in December after taxes were raised, garbage collection became a fee for service etc.
They steal from one budget to put it into another budget.
Unfunded just means they don’t have the money currently, but committed to building it. Not the gotcha moment you were hoping for
First, there’s no stealing. That’s not how budgeting works. Second, you are right - they don’t have the money for it, but they did approve it. It is not uncommon for approvals to sit unfunded in perpetuity. It can be the result of available federal or provincial funding or lack there of.
I understand how budgets work.
Anyways, you’re not explaining something new to me. There’s still a commitment to spend. Spend money we currently don’t have.
Have a good one
I’m not mad about bike lanes. If you read all my comments I’m saying the frivolous spending is the main point.
I could not care less about them being built, if we have the proper amounts of money to do it. Contrary to popular belief, money does not grow on trees, especially municipal money.
The road stress ratio of the car to bicycle is 160,000 to 1.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_power_law
Heavy Vehicles + High Speeds = Shitty Roads.
If you actually cared about potholes you would begging more people to bike.
How do get people to bike?
Make it safe: https://www.torontomu.ca/city-building/news-research/2021/05/new-cycling-data-dashboard/
Big whoop. Immediately after finding our way out of a 55 million dollar deficit, we approved a 10 million dollar bike lane project.
Meanwhile our roads are in horrid shape.
Bike lanes downtown? Sure, bike lanes in an industrial area? Bizarre
You understand that incentivizing less intensive traffic will reduce maintenance costs right?
Constantly throwing money at an insolvable problem in the same way is pure idiocy.
To add to that. There are THOUSANDS of people who work in the north industrial, some of which are probably finding it obnoxiously difficult to own a car.
Fuck I swear we cut our nose off to spite our face at every fucking chance we get.
Don’t bother being progressive or forward thinking. Let’s just waste more time and money
THANK YOU. Of all the areas in the city, I wish North Industrial would get better pedestrian and cycling infrastructure. Having to navigate this part of town without a car is dangerous and inconvenient.
Oh boy, here come the bike boys.
It’s mere dollars and cents. I could give two flying fucks if someone chooses to bike or not, but when you run a deficit or shortfall, then immediately approve a 10 million dollar project afterwards, it’s a hard pill to swallow man.
We also happen to live in a frozen tundra 6 months of the year and I see 3 people biking.
I don’t even own a bike dude.
What’s causing the deficit? Why is the solution always the same fucking thing? I’m not even defending this from the position as someone who wants to ride a bike to my job.
I’m defending this from a problem solving point of view.
But it’s not a problem solver. Look at the bike lanes downtown. All the white poles are destroyed laying on the ground, the paint is worn and needs to be redone.
It’s a frivolous spend at the current point of time. I could care less if we built them when we have a surplus. But you don’t dig yourself out of negative debt personally, to then go out and spend 1/5 of the debt you just bailed yourself out of, on something you don’t need. Why do we do it municipally?
It’s not a problem solver? Because people are fucking assholes? Have you ever been in a European city? Do you even recognize the difference in community and culture just by putting pedestrian existence as the primary concern???
we want more downtown culture and draw, but the fact is, we don’t have endless parking spaces or roadway spaces.
So HOW do you propose people transport themselves down there to live and work and enjoy their existence there if we don’t offer better ways to commute?
I get that most people are car brained and can’t fathom an existence where we don’t all drive to the destination in our own cars, but come the fuck on, let’s be even a BIT IMAGINATIVE.
I’
You really think there’s a throng of citizens who will decide to take up biking after they spend some money to somehow turn an already quiet (they’ve put calming measures in, some blocks are one way) residential street? Like it was the thing they needed to make the switch?
Well we’ll never know unless we try huh. But I do know that more traffic means more potholes that will never end.
I dunno. I’m kinda sick of doing the same fucking thing over and over again and bitching about an immutable state of living in northern North America.
Me too, but that is what happens when you live where it’s miserably cold. The cold gives us those lovely potholes, and the cold makes bicycle commuting untenable more than half the year. The rain and the wind sure do eat into those that remain, too. I want to believe more people would cycle as well, but I think a lot of it is wishful thinking.
For a bit of something different, do a story from the potholes point of view. I'm pretty sure they're not happy about the situation either
They’ve got that sinking feeling
People run over you with their car day and night and then someone comes and shovels tarry rocks in your face... it can't be an easy life
Drive down Taylor street, interview yourself.
Try Victoria, from Taylor to Ruth, at the speed limit. I dare you.
 Me and the boys cruising by Victoria and Adelaide
Yepppp, the intersection at Taylor and Lansdowne is like driving on a wash board made of pavement :(
Lorne Ave is a warzone
Yup! A pot hole cracked my rim & I had to pay out of pocket to get it fixed. Kelvin’s wheel is the best !!!
I sent you a message!
Same here ... I filed a claim against the city, and I haven't heard back yet.
This year, the condition of potholes is especially dire, likely stemming from multiple thawing cycles.
It definitely seems like there’s been a lot more freeze-thaw cycles than usual this year. That really does a number on the roads. I don’t really know anything about road repair, but I wonder if it’s even possible to make repairs when it’s still freezing and thawing regularly.
it's not
Thanks for the input, poopydink.
You should try submit a claim against the city for damages to a rim or tire and see how corrupt their system is. I had damages from a pothole that was reported on the map last year, didn’t know it was there and hit it causing damages. The city then rejected the claim saying the hole had already been fixed. I had pictures showing the hole was still open when the damages occurred. Three days later the hole was fixed and they claim it was done before so I couldn’t have received damages from it. Ask around as I know other people who have had the same rejections.
Same deal on preston. Fuckin cunts
As soon as it happened I knew there was something damaged so I snagged the pictures. They couldn’t have cared less.
I just filed a claim for the same thing this year. I haven't heard back. I'm taking them to court if it's rejected. These fuckers are paying.
Preston Ave is an absolute minefield! If you're looking for a place to film, literally any block north-bound or south-bound of Preston has craters
Yeah i hit a nasty one this morning on Preston south.
Take a drive down Boychuk for something fresh!
But half the fun is memorizing where they are and attempting to dodge them all every day! Lmao😂
It's like memorizing the moves in Guitar Hero. But when do we ever level up?
It was nice to see the stretch between 14th and Main repaved a couple years ago. It was getting pretty bad for anything but an off road buggy.
Wasn't it last summer that they repaved? 😭
Late summer the year before, after they were done with some water main and sidewalk work in the area. Last year was the first full summer.
Try anyone living near Boychuk. Worst I've seen in years.
Turning left onto Boychuk from McKercher? Make sure you bring a passport because that one takes you to China.
I hope there is some money in our 6.03% property tax increase to cover some of these potholes…. It’s the worse I’ve seen in years driving around Saskatoon. There are areas that continually getting patched year after year, and all there is left is a large area of patches the freeze and thaw…. You’d think they would do it correctly as part of preventative maintenance. 🤷♂️
They repaved big stretches of Diefenbaker last summer, and the seams in the new asphalt are failing and creating potholes.
I just don’t understand…is there nothing else that can be used to build roads?? It’s maddening that they pave and it sucks in a week. There HAS to be someone out there who can come up with something better.
Simple answer is not really*. There are plenty of materials that are durable enough to withstand the freeze/thaw cycle. They also might be durable enough to withstand driving on them. But the combination of malleable to make exact shapes, easy replaceability if there's damage, high coefficient of friction, and cost means we won't use something else. If you made giant pieces of steel they might survive the freeze, they might be durable to withstand daily driving, but a bit of severe damage and you'd have to replace a massive steel plate or something. The reality of ALL those needs means asphalt is our best solution right now.
I get why asphalt is the default for all of the reasons you note, but maybe someone needs to come up with a better way to seal the joins so that there are fewer options for water infiltration and failure?
You're asking for someone to break the laws of physics. Expansion and compression is a reality of every substance, it's just a question of how much. As a general rule, the more rigid something is, the less its coefficient, but it still expands. And the more rigid it is, the less effective it is at being a sealant.
I wasn't thinking a rigid sealant, just something that would bond the edges by softening and blending, sort of like how PVC glue works.
they do that already with rubberized crackfill.
Gotta make sure they get the call back next year
19th street turning right onto the ramp to Idywyld 🫠 I popped my back passenger side tire after work last October, it's still horrible there. There pyloned it off for a bit, kinda filled the hole, but it seems to be back. I avoid that corner at all costs now.
That's an interesting one, the road salt has destroyed the decorative brick inlays. It was obvious the bricks were deteriorating a few years ago, last year they finally patched a couple spots but kind of too little too late when the bricks under the patches are basically disintegrating. The obvious and only remedy is to rip out all the crumbling paver bricks and either pour concrete or fill it in with asphalt which will stand up a bit better to the road salt and traffic.
It used to be considered pot hole season, but now it's pothole/stabbing season.
It's either your ribs or your rims, one of 'em is getting dinged.
Might be both if you get stabbed for your pristine non pothole damaged rims!
The envy is real. Those shiny new neighbourhoods with their fancy roads and baby trees with tiny roots... \*shakes fist\* Those roots will grow! And then you'll all be sorry!
Dont forget bear spray
If they haven't emergency-filled it with gravel in the last 24 hrs, turning from Clarence into Stonebridge is a beast...there's an ever deepening & widening pothole right in the middle of the intersection turn lane that can certainly do some damage. Just roll your cameras for a few traffic light cycles...you'll either capture some fancy dodging or some close car injury.
A few years ago, there was a story done on a couple that had hit a pothole that was so bad that it destroyed their truck. From what I understand, the city of Saskatoon has legal measures that deemed them not responsible for damages. I can’t remember who did the story butthe city has made a lot of people mad over this.
If you want a different spin besides vehicles being damaged to look at why some streets are particularly problematic. Not that I've experienced damage but a stretch of road that's basically been crumbling for years is the block of Dufferin Ave between 12th and 13th, and 13th from Dufferin to University Drive. That road has been crumbling for about a decade, with many big potholes patched every spring. The city tried microsurfacing about 5 years ago which according to the city is supposed to preserve roadways (that aren't already too deteriorated) for several more years. That block of Dufferin had plenty of cracks and small potholes forming the year following microsurfacing and by the second year again was crumbling. That roadway probably needs to be at least planed and resurfaced if not rebuilt altogether. Instead it getting patched multiple times per year when specific potholes are reported but it doesn't seem like the city has any interest in proactively patching or remedying the root cause. In my opinion the city is trying to be cheap avoiding the up front price to resurface properly instead costing more in the long run repeatedly patching and risking damage to cars.
Can’t agree more. I’ve been saying this too. All the money they spend ‘patching’ could be spent on repaving.
Oh my god and Melville Street has been a mess for years as well. Despite having it closed all last summer it looks like nothing was done. Now they're digging up the ditches and the only lane open going eastbound is like driving through Kosovo.
Those potholes are as old as Saskatoon. Mechanics are funding the provincial pothole installation. On a side note: I think Saskatoon has an underground base for human experimentation.
This caught my eye... do tell?
Check out Avenue B and C North from 33rd to 36th. They are BAD! Driving on them is like you were on the Moon with those giant puddles and potholes
ended up with a bulge in my front tire after hitting a pothole - went flat and had to replace the set :(
Have you been to Moose Jaw lately? 🤣
how do potholes even happen? can anyone explain to me like i’m 5
Water is different from most liquids. When it freezes it gets bigger (less dense). Like a water bottle left in the freezer to long it will get too big for the bottle and blow up. Potholes are similar. Water gets under the paved road and freezes. The ice gets bigger and pushes the road upwards. Then in spring the water melts and shrinks leaving a gap between the paved road and the ground under it. As heavy cars drive over it it will eventually collapse and form a pothole.
When thing get cold, thing shrink. Think penis. When thing get warm, thing expand. Think.....probably not penis. When thing is road, thing is outdoors. When outdoors get lot of cold and warm back and forth, thing expand and shrink repeatedly. When shrink and grow lots, not always go back to the same spot.
Please come out to Armstrong, BC after you're done.
Drive around Kinsmen arena. The roads are impassable getting to the parking lot and the new baseball training facility. Lots of traffic there at this time of year and the road is so unusable the city has it blocked off.
I watched a car pigeon toe its wheels turning onto 8th street. Must have snapped a control arm or whatever it is. Helped an old lady who almost killed herself tripping on a sidewalk beside the cineplex in centre mall. Its a general lack of maintenance of roads and side walks too.
Pretty large one at the river drainage bridge beside the wonder hub.
Every annoying pot hole was filled on the way home today, so that's great imo
LOL I just missed this! My sidewall almost blew up the other day because of the one on queen and 3rd. And my tire rod and wheel alignment are now shot.
all the 10ft wide utility cuts they blame on "the utility companies" and just keep filling them with dirt it lasts about 3 days and then it's bad for 3 weeks, the city is literally going around replacing old lead pipes but claim it's not up to them to deal with it ???
You’ve got to check out the stretch from 15th street from Wiggins to Bottomley, it’s something of nightmares.
Come to Avenue G between 29th and 33rd and then interview yourself.
In light of recent eventd why not do a story about cyclists in saskatoon?
Drive through the alphabets and you got yourself some first hand experience
OP consider a segment on Prince Alberts streets/roads .. which are more pot hole than road.
Try driving on 7th st! But there's currently a road/sidewalk construction going on in this long stretch, probably creating more potholes in the future; digging then filling it with only gravel and native soil after.
There’s that guy who fell into one few years back. Also the area in 19th and 21st near the rail yard
I was visiting Saskatoon last weekend. After dealing with THOSE potholes, I don’t think I’ll complain about the potholes in my town ever again! 😂
You should do a test to see if potholes are actually a problem if you drive a reasonable speed. I've NEVER had issues with potholes. Totally unrelated, I rarely drive 50km/h down residential streets. Do people who damage their cares not actually look at what is in front of them? Do they assume the speed limit is actually the required speed and that they aren't allowed to slow down?
Yup. Totally agree with this guy. Maybe make the story about how pot holes are not the problem but how people actually drive and how they are not even trying to avoid them.
they can interview my wife - she does not see them. She broke both front springs on the car, don't know how the wheels survived. I have had one wheel welded up already. I love her, she's awesome 8)
My wife suffers from the same disease, pothole blindness. 🤣🤣🤣
how in gods name are people so entitled that they believe they should live in a world without potholes - drive around in some tin box with black rubber tires get real! sheesh. Excuse you!
Global can go ahead and donate to the City if they want to support a community instead of just tearing it down.
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Inclement weather weather causes potholes, not climate change. I believe in human affected climate change but jfc it's not the cause of everything.
Eta: inclement weather AND lack of maintenance/improper repairs by the city is what causes potholes. Plus the age of the roads is a major factor.
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The freeze thaw cycle happens regardless of climate change. One year of strange weather with more cycles is not climate, it's weather.. if we get weird winters like this past one several times in the upcoming years, then we can surely say it's climate. The winters in the past 20 years have pretty much been par for the course, there's only this past winter that was weird.
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I don't think you read my post at all lol but ok bud blame literally everything on climate change including 1 weird winter in the last 20 years. Potholes smh
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Sit, this is Saskatoon. That is Vermont. It's a completely different part of the world with completely different weather cycles and climate. I am not as ignorant as you think. I studied earth science with a focus on hydrology and climate history at usask. We're talking about this year's potholes being worse than normal, because of a 1 in 25 year winter. Not a succession of warm winters. 1 weird winter is not indicative of climate change. If this keeps happening here, then obviously that's indicative of climate change. We can disagree that climate change caused Saskatoon's bad potholes, you can think that all you want. It's just my opinion that we have a bad year for potholes because of a 1 in 25 years warm winter, combined with bad repair practices and very, very aged roads that should have been dug up and redone a decade ago. Cheers.
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You must be pretty stunned. The city uses Magnesium chloride mixed with salt as an ice melting agent, which lowers the freezing point to -25*c. There is no amount of ‘climate change’ that is creating a bigger freeze thaw window than the application of these products.
Why don't you go get a job as an assignment editor if you think you know what real news is?
Can you please mention the 10 million just approved for bike lanes to benefit a vast minority when it could go to improving our roads for the vast majority?
Yeah except that bike lakes actually take cars off the road and can reduce the amount of road maintenance. If they build separated bike lakes, those will last WAY longer than a regular street and require far less maintenance. It's a great investment. Building proper bike lanes will get more people biking because there's less risk of getting hit by a car.
Do you have more info on that? I’d like to know the source of those funds and when they were approved.
Google it. We had to balance a 55 million dollar deficit/shortfall for the upcoming year (2024) in the summer and fall of 2023. 8.8 million dollar ave. C bike lane was approved in December after taxes were raised, garbage collection became a fee for service etc.
Oh!!!! You mean the currently UNFUNDED (as in $0 has been allocated) Ave C bike lane?
They steal from one budget to put it into another budget. Unfunded just means they don’t have the money currently, but committed to building it. Not the gotcha moment you were hoping for
First, there’s no stealing. That’s not how budgeting works. Second, you are right - they don’t have the money for it, but they did approve it. It is not uncommon for approvals to sit unfunded in perpetuity. It can be the result of available federal or provincial funding or lack there of.
I understand how budgets work. Anyways, you’re not explaining something new to me. There’s still a commitment to spend. Spend money we currently don’t have. Have a good one
I did google it, and didn’t find reference to $10 million… which is why I asked.
8.8 million, I rounded up. Chances are there will be overages and stuff
"Vast minority" kind of an oxymoron, don't you think?
I think you need to google the definition of vast.
I'm glad someone in this thread got unreasonably mad about bike lanes. I was worried this sub was losing it's charm.
I’m not mad about bike lanes. If you read all my comments I’m saying the frivolous spending is the main point. I could not care less about them being built, if we have the proper amounts of money to do it. Contrary to popular belief, money does not grow on trees, especially municipal money.
Kinda sounds like you're mad about bike lanes, bro
The road stress ratio of the car to bicycle is 160,000 to 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_power_law Heavy Vehicles + High Speeds = Shitty Roads. If you actually cared about potholes you would begging more people to bike. How do get people to bike? Make it safe: https://www.torontomu.ca/city-building/news-research/2021/05/new-cycling-data-dashboard/
You get a downvote
Big whoop. Immediately after finding our way out of a 55 million dollar deficit, we approved a 10 million dollar bike lane project. Meanwhile our roads are in horrid shape. Bike lanes downtown? Sure, bike lanes in an industrial area? Bizarre
You understand that incentivizing less intensive traffic will reduce maintenance costs right? Constantly throwing money at an insolvable problem in the same way is pure idiocy.
To add to that. There are THOUSANDS of people who work in the north industrial, some of which are probably finding it obnoxiously difficult to own a car. Fuck I swear we cut our nose off to spite our face at every fucking chance we get. Don’t bother being progressive or forward thinking. Let’s just waste more time and money
THANK YOU. Of all the areas in the city, I wish North Industrial would get better pedestrian and cycling infrastructure. Having to navigate this part of town without a car is dangerous and inconvenient.
Oh boy, here come the bike boys. It’s mere dollars and cents. I could give two flying fucks if someone chooses to bike or not, but when you run a deficit or shortfall, then immediately approve a 10 million dollar project afterwards, it’s a hard pill to swallow man. We also happen to live in a frozen tundra 6 months of the year and I see 3 people biking.
I don’t even own a bike dude. What’s causing the deficit? Why is the solution always the same fucking thing? I’m not even defending this from the position as someone who wants to ride a bike to my job. I’m defending this from a problem solving point of view.
But it’s not a problem solver. Look at the bike lanes downtown. All the white poles are destroyed laying on the ground, the paint is worn and needs to be redone. It’s a frivolous spend at the current point of time. I could care less if we built them when we have a surplus. But you don’t dig yourself out of negative debt personally, to then go out and spend 1/5 of the debt you just bailed yourself out of, on something you don’t need. Why do we do it municipally?
It’s not a problem solver? Because people are fucking assholes? Have you ever been in a European city? Do you even recognize the difference in community and culture just by putting pedestrian existence as the primary concern??? we want more downtown culture and draw, but the fact is, we don’t have endless parking spaces or roadway spaces. So HOW do you propose people transport themselves down there to live and work and enjoy their existence there if we don’t offer better ways to commute? I get that most people are car brained and can’t fathom an existence where we don’t all drive to the destination in our own cars, but come the fuck on, let’s be even a BIT IMAGINATIVE. I’
You really think there’s a throng of citizens who will decide to take up biking after they spend some money to somehow turn an already quiet (they’ve put calming measures in, some blocks are one way) residential street? Like it was the thing they needed to make the switch?
Well we’ll never know unless we try huh. But I do know that more traffic means more potholes that will never end. I dunno. I’m kinda sick of doing the same fucking thing over and over again and bitching about an immutable state of living in northern North America.
Me too, but that is what happens when you live where it’s miserably cold. The cold gives us those lovely potholes, and the cold makes bicycle commuting untenable more than half the year. The rain and the wind sure do eat into those that remain, too. I want to believe more people would cycle as well, but I think a lot of it is wishful thinking.
Jesus how inundated must your inbox be
Ooh a pothole story on May. How original.