Potholes plague BC highways during vicious freeze-thaw winter

British Columbia’s roads and highways have seen a particularly difficult winter leading to more than the usual number of potholes — and conditions are making journeys treacherous for drivers and truckers.

Dave Earle, president and CEO of the BC Trucking Association, told Daily Hive Urbanized that this winter has seen many freeze-thaw cycles, which lead to potholes on the road.

The freeze-thaw cycle is unique to southern BC. Once truckers cross the Alberta border, where temperatures are consistently below zero for most of the winter, the roads are in much better shape.

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“It’s worse than it usually is this time of year. We’ve had a phenomenal amount of snow. Because, frankly, why wouldn’t we? We’ve had floods and fires and now why wouldn’t we have four or five metres of snow?”

It’s resulted in huge potholes. Truckers driving big rigs can’t swerve to avoid them like smaller cars can, and often have no choice but to go over and risk damaging their vehicle.

“If you can imagine the size of a hole that has to open up to damage these big trucks. These aren’t little six-inch-deep holes. These are massive holes that are opening up and they open up quickly. And it’s really challenging to keep on top of.”

Highway 3 has become a particularly dangerous route, partly because it wasn’t designed to accommodate so much truck traffic. For several weeks, it has been the default route for commercial traffic while the Coquihalla and Highway 1 remained closed because of the damage they sustained during November’s atmospheric river.

Earle added that the association is in near constant contact with the Ministry of Transportation which in turn sends contractors out to repair damage. But getting things repaired seems to be taking longer than usual this year as well — and Earle chalked some of it up to pandemic-related staffing shortages.

“When we’re seeing the absences that we’re seeing with COVID-19, there’s just not the people available to work.”

Daily Hive Urbanized has reached out to BC’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure for comment.

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