Potholes on City of Toronto roads or expressways

To report potholes on City of Toronto roads, bike lanes or expressways, you can submit a service request online at: http://www.toronto.ca/311/ or call 311. 

City of Toronto Expressways include:

  • Don Valley Parkway (DVP) - south of the 401
  • Highway 27 - north from Highway 401 west of Martin Grove Rd., to Steeles Ave.
  • Gardiner Expressway
  • Hwy 2a (Kingston Rd.)
  • Allen Expressway
  • Black Creek Dr.

If you wish to report potholes on a Provincial Highway or ramp, such as the 400,401, 403, 404, 409, 410, 427, or QEW,  visit Potholes - provincial highways .


Potholes - road surface damage:

  • exceeding 600cm2 and 8 cm in depth on expressways
  • exceeding 800cm2 and 8cm in depth on arterial roads
  • exceeding 1000cm2 and 8cm in depth. on a collector or local roads

 

Causes of potholes

Potholes are created when water penetrates the top layer of asphalt through cracks in the road. After the moisture freezes and expands, sections of the pavement are forced up. The weight of vehicles going over this section of road breaks the pavement and the asphalt is forced out. Potholes are more frequent in the spring, after the freeze/thaw action following winter.

 

Process of fixing a pothole

Crews place asphalt and rake it into the pothole. Then they tamp down the asphalt and smooth it out until the road surface is improved.

 

Note: The Estimated Resolution Timeframe is an average time for pothole repairs for all road classifications. See below for expected completion time for various road classifications which are within or exceed provincial standards for repair:

  • Emergency Repair is 24 hours
  • Expressways (greater than 40,000 vehicles per day) is 4 days
  • Arterial Roads (greater than 8,000 vehicles per day) is 4 days
  • Collector Road (between 2,500 and 8,000 vehicles per day) is 14 days
  • Local Street (Less than 2,500 vehicles per day) is 21 days
  • Laneway (Public) is 21 days

Should the repair be deemed to be more significant, a temporary repair will be completed within the noted timelines with permanent repairs at a later date.

Repair of potholes in the City of Toronto

To combat the problem, the City of Toronto's Transportation Division has a number of work crews that are assigned to the job of fixing potholes and similar road defects as close to year-round as the weather permits. Information on the number of potholes filled, the process of fixing the potholes, and the cost can be found by visiting the City of Toronto website.

If you believe that the City has been negligent in its maintenance of City facilities, roads, trees and sewers, which has caused bodily injury or damage to your property, you can submit a claim to the City of Toronto.

For certain types of claims, you are required to submit notice of your claim within 10 days of the date of the incident.