Montreal mayor gets two flat tires due to potholes on Notre-Dame
Posted February 3, 2026 6:54 am.
Last Updated February 3, 2026 5:37 pm.
Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada says she got two flat tires Monday evening after driving over potholes on Notre-Dame Street.
Martinez Ferrada, clearly choosing to take the situation with humor, posted a video on social media filmed alongside the tow truck driver who came to assist her.
“She talks about potholes, and she fell into some potholes,” the driver quipped, prompting laughter from the mayor.
Martinez Ferrada then confirmed that two of her tires had been punctured by the potholes that dot Notre-Dame Street.
“We come with solutions, but in the meantime, we get towed,” says Martinez Ferrada in the video.
“I know that the streets don’t make sense,” she concluded.
Numerous potholes appeared on the streets of the metropolis during a thaw in January. The issue has become a big headache for many Montreal motorists.
While in its first winter at the helm of Montreal, the Martinez Ferrada administration argues that many of the City’s facilities are out of service due to mechanical breakdowns, which is slowing down the patching operations.
“Streets are nearly impassable, It’s a major issue for us right now,” said Martinez Ferrada at a press conference on Monday.
CAA Québec spokesperson Simon Bourrassa said flat-tire service calls in Montreal and Laval jumped 75 per cent from Jan. 9 to 20 compared with last year.
Martinez Ferrada said the city is operating in emergency mode to patch potholes but faces equipment shortages.
“Twenty-five per cent of our equipment doesn’t work or is missing,” said Martinez Ferrada. “We are working with the boroughs to ensure we have the tools needed to repair streets.”
She promises to unveil an action plan to correct the situation, adding it won’t be without challenges. That’s because 25 per cent of Montreal’s road machinery is either damaged or missing.
A narrow repair window
Experts say quick pothole patches are only a short-term fix.
Montreal only has a narrow window in the year when temperatures allow asphalt to properly be set. Miss that window, and repairs won’t hold.
“You’re putting it down in a wet climate,” explained Joey De Michele of Pavage Montreal. “As soon as the asphalt touches the ground, it’s hot. So it melts the ice and it creates water. So the adhesion will never be there.
“There’s certain measures that they take to seal the joints so that water doesn’t get into the repairs.”
De Michele says the only real solution is full street resurfacing — projects that can last decades if done correctly.
The challenge? Doing it city-wide.
“Ideally, it would be to repave everything,” he said. “But we can’t wave a magic wand and have all the streets done in one shot.”
Notre-Dame Street includes a section that was named Montreal’s worst road in CAA Québec’s 2025 online citizen vote.
