It sounds counterproductive, but Edmonton officials say creating new potholes will help them fix the city's crazy pothole problem.
Rougly 45 new potholes on 111th Avenue will allow officials to better understand which filler works best for patching up the problematic ruts.
According to the Edmonton Journal, the city cut dozens of new potholes in the road between 188th Street and 109th Street last November, filling them with nine different patching materials.
The plan is to let the fillers rest until 2015 — allowing for fluctuations in temperature and precipitation over several seasons — before deciding which material will be used to patch the holes in the future.
Potholes plague Edmonton each spring, after the snow melts and roads suffer the effects of winter's wear-and-tear. Metro Edmonton reports 700,000 potholes were filled in 2013.
The City of Edmonton also paid out a record $464,000 to drivers whose cars were damaged by potholes in 2013, according to CBC News.
Don Marshall, director of risk management for the city, told the Journal that 2013 was Edmonton's "worst pothole year to date," attributing the terrible road conditions to last winter's cycle of freeze and thaw.
However, city officials say they are committed to fixing the problem, and according to the Edmonton Sun a plan was laid out in May 2013 to increase the pothole budget to $65 million annually by 2019.
Bob Dunford, Edmonton’s director of roadway maintenance, said last year's efforts on potholes should pay off this spring. He told Metro Edmonton drivers should expect "another fairly heavy season" of rutted roads.
Also on HuffPost
