Ottawa city council approved a one-time injection of money today to deal with road-resurfacing in the city.
Mayor Jim Watson asked council to waive the rules of procedure in order to bring in that motion. The mayor says it was a tough winter for our roads with all that freeze and thaw which led to a large increase in the number of pothole complaints.
So, council today agreed to spend an extra $400-thousand dollars on pothole repairs. But it will also add a one-time injection of $2.5 million dollars to resurface roads.
“There's no question this was a really bad winter,” Watson said, “We had 70 freeze thaw cycles which created over 150,000 potholes that we filled in the last little while so this money is to fix potholes before winter comes and to resurface a lot more roads than we normally would have done in a given summer construction season.”
For drivers, the money will bring welcome relief they hope to an often bumpy ride that has cost some of them money for repairs.
“They’re terrible,” says one driver, “My springs are gone already from just this winter.”
“When I’m on Riverside to get home,” says a woman, “the potholes are insane and you're always concerned you're going to get a flat tire.”
“I feel really bad for whoever has to do road work in this city,” adds another woman, “There's a lot of work to do.”
The mayor admits the city hasn't put the money it should have to fix our roads. His motion for these extra funds passed unanimously.
