Soraya Martinez Ferrada asks Saad Tekiout to stop 50-dollar pothole repairs
soraya martinez ferrada asked Saad Tekiout to stop patching potholes himself after his roadside repairs drew media attention in Montreal. The mayor, who said her own tires suffered a double blowout in February, also said Montreal had already put more than $6 million into pothole work.
Tekiout, a landscaper, had been asking Montrealers where the worst potholes were and fixing them at a cost of $50 a pothole. He said he was doing it “for love of my city,” but Montreal’s legal department warned that his actions are illegal.
Montreal's pothole strain
Martinez Ferrada said Montreal has mended 15,000 pockmarks in the pavement and deployed 24 more blue-collar workers to deal with potholes, along with two new machines for the work. About 8,000 motorists on the Island of Montreal called CAA-Québec for roadside assistance because of punctured tires between January and early April, a figure that gives a sharper picture of the pressure on streets across the city.
The repair effort has come while Montreal is struggling with a severe pothole problem this spring. City crews are described as overstretched, with broken patching machines and an expired contract for a company that helps fill holes, leaving officials trying to catch up as public frustration rises.
Saad Tekiout and city limits
Tekiout’s patches drew headlines and media attention, which is what brought the city’s response into the open. Martinez Ferrada also urged Montrealers to “do their part” and “get out their brooms” to tidy up around their own homes, putting the city’s message on cleanliness alongside the warning that private pothole repairs are not allowed.
That leaves a clear line for residents trying to help themselves after tire damage: Montreal is still expanding its own repair effort, but the mayor has told one visible pothole vigilante to stop and the legal department has set the boundary. The immediate test now is whether the city’s added workers, new machines and spending can keep pace with the damage already showing up on Montreal streets.
