The Buzz · Sudbury Morning Wire

Good luck getting Sudbury to pay for your pothole damage

Your potholes are eating our claims, eh?

Bonjour du Nord — c'est Sudbury, on lâche pas. Let's go.

Okay, ben là, you won't believe this. We've all hit a pothole on Lasalle, or coming off the Kingsway, and felt that sickening *thump* that makes you wonder if your whole suspension just went out the window. We've all thought about trying to get the city to pay for it, right? Well, good luck with that, mon ami. New data shows if you live in northeastern Ontario and try to file a claim against your municipality for pothole damage, you've got about a 10% chance of actually getting compensated. Ten percent! Voyons donc.

### Why This Bites for Us

This isn't just some abstract statistic. This is real money out of our pockets when our roads are, let's just say, well-seasoned. We're talking about tires, rims, alignments — sometimes even major suspension work that can run into the hundreds, even thousands, of dollars. Last year, hundreds of people across the northeast tried to get some help, and most of them just hit a brick wall. It's like the municipalities are saying, "We know the roads are rough, but that's your problem, eh?" For folks driving through places like the Big Nickel Mine road, or down through the South End near Laurentian, where the roads can really take a beating, this is a kick in the pants.

* **Low Success Rate:** Only about 10% of claims against municipalities for pothole damage in northeastern Ontario were successful last year. * **Costly Repairs:** Residents are on the hook for expensive vehicle repairs, from tires to suspension. * **Frustration:** It adds insult to injury for drivers already dealing with tough road conditions.

It really grinds my gears, you know? We pay our taxes, we live in a city that's literally built on rock and exposed to harsh winters and heavy truck traffic. The roads are a fact of life, but so should be some accountability when they cause serious damage. For the people driving in and out of Copper Cliff, or navigating those tricky hills around Science North, it feels like we're being told to just suck it up. This just drills down on the feeling that we're often left to fend for ourselves up here, eh?

Bonjour du Nord — c'est Sudbury, on lâche pas. Let's go.

For all the chatter about this and more, you gotta tune in to the crew every morning at mornings.live.

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