One thing I wasn’t really planning on when I took some time off in February was a trip to the amusement park.
Thankfully, I wasn’t hanging out at the haunted house or anything like that. But there seemed to be one ride that was a major attraction.
It’s a combination of a roller coaster, tilt a whirl, slalom course and bumper cars all wrapped up together. And it’s on a lot of our roads this year.
It’s not just the potholes, although they are a big part of it. The up and down temperatures have certainly managed to leave some nice ones out there. But the weather has also left some pretty nasty heaving in some areas. In some places, a seat belt is not just a safety precaution, it’s needed just to keep you in your seat.
It will likely get worse before it gets better. And there’s not much that can be done. To fix the problem would probably require taking most of the roads in the province, digging them down several feet and starting over again. And even that might not be a cure. Not only that, but ain’t no one got the money for that.
We just happen to live in an area where heaving happens. Particularly when you have saturated ground and repeated freezing and thawing cycles.
As for potholes, asphalt doesn’t really seem like the best material to cover roads, but it’s about the best we have for now. And when holes form this time of year, it’s hard to patch them. You can toss in some gravel, and the next rain washes it out. You can try to patch the holes, but the patches just pop back out with the next round of freezing and thawing.
All we can hope for is to drive carefully and try to avoid smashing a rim or worse.
So be careful out there. And let’s hope the frost comes out of the ground early.
