City councillor compares Montreal's pothole repairs to putting 'lipstick on a pig'

A Montreal city councillor saysinstead of just patching potholes, the city should come up with better ways to fix roads long-term.

For the past five years, Montreal has invested half a billion dollars to maintain its road networkand address the city's estimated60,000 to 90,000 potholes.

The first pothole repair operation of 2017 took place this weekend.Under the currentmechanized system, repairing a pothole costs the city an average of $20.

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OppositioncouncillorSteveShanahansays the city's pothole resurfacing plan is a superficial solution.

"We just dig down the first couple inches, top layers, and we redo itesthetically," he said.

"It looks good for five years but we have not fixed the other problems, so there's a really good chance that even within a year or two of doing one of these esthetic makeup jobslipstick on a pigwe're going toget the potholes coming back again."

Number of damage claims on the rise

Potholes still pose a serious problem for drivers, some of whom go so far as to submit claims for damaged vehicles to the city.

The number of claimsincreased by 88 per cent from 2015 to 2016, according todata compiled by Radio-Canada.

Last year, 591 people made claimsto the city, compared to 315 in 2015 and 325 in 2014.

"Changes in climatecreatepotholes, but that being said, we want to be as proactive as possible.So when people send us damage claims, we investigate," said city spokesman Jacques-AlainLavalle.

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Provincial and municipalgovernments can't be held liable for damage to tires or a vehicle's suspension because of road conditions, according to CAA-Quebec.

But it is possible to sue a municipality or city for negligence or misconduct if a claimant can prove the authority responsible for maintaining the stretch ofroad in question knew about the problem in advance and failed to do anything about it.

Despite the increased number of claims being submitted last year, only about24 per cent actually received compensation.