Pothole season in Halifax off to an expensive start

Jason Annis thought it was just a dark spot in the road.

But when he hit the pothole, coming off Highway 102 towards Bayers Lake, he knew he had done major damage.

"My daughter screeched in the back. She thought we were actually in an accident," Annis said.

His family was visiting Halifax from Yarmouth for his daughter's volleyball tournament. After driving across the province, he said he thinks the situation in Halifax is the worst in Nova Scotia.

"Nothing compared to what's here in the city of Halifax. It seems like you're dodging and weaving. And not only that, you're dodging the traffic that's trying to avoid the potholes themselves.

"It makes for a treacherous drive," Annis said.

Municipal and provincial crews have already been out on roadways throughout the Halifax area making road repairs.

On Saturday, crews tackled the north and west ends of Halifax and parts of Burnside.

"We try to get out ahead of them all," said Don Pellerine, superintendant of streets and sidewalks for the city of Halifax.

"We know that some cars get damaged, but it's just the nature of the beast. We try to get them all but obviously we don't," he said.

That damage can be costly to drivers and can keep repair shops busy.

"It's something we see on almost a daily basis," said Philip Robinson, manager at Scotia Tire.

"Anything from a bent wheel to a damaged tire, to some front end parts and some realignment," he said, listing some of the possible repairs pothole damage can require.

"It can be a hundred dollars to a few hundred dollars depending on the severity of the pothole."

City crews have a list of more than 2,900 potholes that need to be filled. As with most years, the road repairs will likely stretch into the late spring and summer.