City crews take advantage of warm weather during the winter by filling potholes

While snowfall has been intermittent around Calgary since the calendar turned to 2023, City crews aren’t waiting around. During periods of warm weather in winter, City crews have plenty to keep them busy. It’s part of The City’s commitment to providing service value for Calgarians.

Recently, crews have been taking advantage of warmer temperatures by filling potholes. Though pothole repairs are typically recognized as a spring and summer activity by many Calgarians, The City can fill potholes year-round when weather permits.

Potholes form when snow melts into cracks in the asphalt and then freezes, expanding in the cracks. To permanently fix potholes, crews need dry pavement and warm weather conditions, which means pothole repair can happen in winter if the temperature is high enough.

“Our crews are always working through the winter, no matter the weather,” states Chris Hewitt, Manager of Mobility Maintenance, “when the temperature warms, we can shift our focus to other duties such as filling potholes, repairing infrastructure and continuing to respond to 311 requests. We’ve had pothole crews performing repairs for several days this year thanks to these bouts of nice weather.”

Crews also focus on other warm weather work, including sanding and salting icy areas, improving conditions for accessibility due to snow and ice, snow fence repairs, sweeping up roadside materials and debris pickup.  

Citizens can find out more about reporting potholes, how potholes are prioritized and see a map of pothole progress around The City by visiting Calgary.ca/potholes.