Flat tires abound as potholes take over St. John's roads

Potholes have started swallowing wheels in St. John's, as the traffic menaces have started to spread and dominate many roads.

In some spots in the city, drivers either have to inch forward, slowing the flow of traffic, or swerve and dodge potholes at the last second when they become visible.

Nick Sears hit a pothole on Monday morning that he says was at least a foot deep. The hit resulted in a flat tire, and a late start to his day.

Now, like many other drivers, he's sporting the latest vehicle fashion trend: the spare tire.

"I've spoken to many people this week who said 'Yeah, I got a flat tire,' 'I had a flat tire last week,' 'I had to go changing a tire today,'" Sears said.

"Everyday you hear of somebody else getting a flat tire because of the conditions of the roads, so it's to the point now where everyone's starting to say, 'Well, what can we do?' I know snowclearing has been an issue, but now we need to look at the actual state of the roads."

Coun. Bernard Davis said he's also frustrated with the state of many city roads, but he says there's only so much the city can do with the material at hand.

"We've patched some spots that have gone in an hour because of the way the weather was. The ground is not thawed out yet and its not easy to put that patch into it. It's a cold patch and it's only recycled material," Davis said.

According to Davis, a city review of procedures should help find a way to make the fixing of potholes more efficient.

"It's not as good a system as we'd like to have, and I'm hoping that the review will come up with some options that we could be putting into the potholes that would be better for us," he said.

City crews have been out working on repairing some of the major problems areas, even if just a temporary fix.

But the city said making a proper fix to such big potholes takes serious time, and it will be some time before they're able to make the proper fix required.