The City of Toronto is looking to fix pothole problems beginning this week after cleaning up the recent snowstorm.

"With the freeze-thaw cycles that have taken place this past winter, there is always an increase in the number of potholes on our roads," said Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong, chair of the city's public works and infrastructure committee.

"Our crews work hard throughout the winter, when not involved in snow operations, to fix potholes in order to prevent the situation from worsening in the spring."

The city announced Friday that over the next couple of weeks the number of staff fixing potholes will be raised to 100 workers from the previous 25 to 30.

Crews will patrol the streets for potholes, giving some emergency situations temporary repairs and planning more permanent repairs when the weather is drier.

The city spends about $4 million fixing approximately 200,000 potholes a year.

How to report a pothole

In order to effectively find all potholes and deal with them accordingly, the city has asked residents to call 311 to report potholes they find.

• Provide the exact location of the pothole, including nearest major intersection, or address if possible.
• Provide information about where the pothole is located on the roadway.
• Estimate the size of the pothole.

Staff usually make repairs within five days and requests are handled according to priority (traffic flow in the area and severity of the problem).

311 is for information on non-emergency Toronto services and programs. It is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.