City of Calgary says wild weather swings have pothole crews playing catch-up

The time of year when the freeze-thaw cycle can cause pavement to crumble, leaving large divots in the roadway, and cost drivers a lot of money to repair the damage to their vehicles if they’re unsuccessful at dodging them in time.

While city crews are out filling some of them — and have been since January, weather permitting — city officials admit that the wild swings in the weather recently have delayed the work a bit this year.

That’s because the same city employees in charge of keeping the streets clear of snow are also responsible for filling those divots in the road.

“Potholes typically form when moisture penetrates the surface of the road, freezes below the surface creating an ice pocket. The pocket melts and there’s a void there, and when driven over becomes the pothole,” said Chris McGeachy of the City of Calgary roads department.

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“Our crews are responding to potholes (but) of course with the kind of extended winter, you know the blitz did start a little later. Our focus here up until sweeping is blitzing the potholes.”

Some of the repair work — on major provincial roads, such as Deerfoot Trail — is also the responsibility of the province.

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In a written statement to Global News, the province says with up to 180,000 vehicles travelling Deerfoot Trail every day, most of the repair work on Deerfoot needs to be done at night or during non-peak hours to avoid periods of high traffic volume.

With more snow in the forecast — April is traditionally the second snowiest month of the year — the City of Calgary says it won’t know how this year’s pothole season stacks up against previous seasons until about May.

But mechanics in the city are already seeing some frustrated pothole victims facing costly repairs such as broken struts and blown tires.

“If you hit a pothole and it bends your rim, all of a sudden you got some vibrations going on. $500, anywhere up to $1,000 if you’re replacing rims,” said Brandon Dawborn of Chetlen Auto Tech and Repair, who has a shop just off Macleod Train in the south Calgary community of Willow Park.

“On an all-wheel-drive vehicle, if you damage one tire, you have to get a whole new set of tires all the way around.“

“It does draw a lot of customers and it really sucks, because a lot of times it’s not … how they’re driving or anything. It’s just the road driving on,” added Dawborn.

In 2025, the city says its crews filled 35,855 potholes, slightly less than 2024 when they set a record, repairing 37,850 potholes.

The City of Calgary also set up a website, with an online form, to allow drivers to report any nasty potholes they and their vehicle may encounter.

The website also has a map showing the location and repair status of some of the nastiest potholes in the city.

Judging by it, Macleod Trail is one of the worst areas in the city for potholes so far, meaning Dawborn likely has a busy pothole season ahead of him.

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