Montreal mayor will not file claim with city after hitting pothole, blowing tires

Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada is not filing a claim to have the city pay for her blown tires.

Martinez Ferrada got into car trouble last Monday night after hitting a pothole on Notre-Dame Street.

The mayor says she will not be seeking compensation.

“No, I will not seek a claim to the city,” she told reporters. “I mean, I’m paid by the city, right? My salary comes from the city, so I will not ask for the city to pay my tires.”

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The pothole issue has become a big headache for many Montreal motorists, with numerous potholes appearing on the city’s streets during a thaw in January.

Last Thursday, the Martinez Ferrada administration announced $471,000 would be spent to fix the problem. Ten contracts were being given to three different companies for repairs over eight days.

“Like many other Montrealers, we can have frustration around potholes that it’s a cost that we didn’t plan,” the mayor said. “I can pay for those, but for many Montrealers it’s a big expense that they didn’t expect, so I understand.

“The blitz that we’re doing and the way that we manage the contracts in order to have a blitz of eight days, it’s a temporary measure. As you know, when you put some Band-Aids on a pothole, it will last a few weeks, so it’s not permanent.

“Like I say, brace for impact. Spring is coming, and potholes will rise again. So we need to make sure that we’re ready for spring, and that’s what we’re working on, making sure that everybody has what they need, that the city has the equipment that we need to make sure that we address the issue that’s coming up very quickly down the road.”