Asphalt patches on Old Garden River Rd. just make it worse

City councillors started getting phone calls complaining about the failed patches earlier this month

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The City of Sault Ste. Marie will spend an unexpected $99,000 to resurface a section of Old Garden River Road, after learning that this year's asphalt patches only made the cracks and potholes worse.

Patching was attempted on the heavily travelled road between Second Line and Terrance Ave. as part of a $1.66 million contract for miscellaneous paving and road surface treatments awarded on June 12 to Ellwood Robinson Ltd.

"There are several arteries and collectors – and Old Garden River Rd. is certainly one of them – that need a resurface," said Don Elliott, the city's director of engineering, in a report to City Council.

"Public works patching has only magnified the problem with the surface of the road and the results were poor," Elliott conceded.

Ward 3 councillors Matthew Shoemaker and Judy Hupponen started getting phone calls complaining about the failed patches earlier this month.

At last week's City Council meeting, Shoemaker asked Elliott whether there was any way of better assessing roads before using tax dollars to unsuccessfully patch them.

Elliott said only two or three loads of asphalt were used on that part of Old Garden River Rd. and resurfacing can still take place this year.

"It's not a huge cost, compared to resurfacing it," Elliott said

The road will now be resurfaced using a mill-and-overlay technique in which the top 40 millimetres of existing asphalt is ground up and removed before new pavement is applied.

Shoemaker also expressed concern that Hub Trail that runs along the west side of Old Garden River Road is being mistaken for a wide shoulder by some motorists.

Elliott replied that city staff will look at marking the trail with double lines, bicycle symbols or some other method.

"Whatever is appropriate there, we will do," he said.