This is turning out to be a bad spring for roads in southeastern Manitoba as there are more potholes and frost boils than usual. Phil Kalyta, head engineer for the City of Steinbach, says problems generally arise when you get a winter and spring where temperatures frequently cycle back and forth above and below the freezing mark.

"Any time moisture can get underneath or in a crack and it freezes, it expands and blows the asphalt up. So the Public Works guys are having to keep their eyes and ears open and are running around and fixing potholes the best they can."

Kalyta urges residents to report potholes to the city so they can be repaired as soon as possible. Meanwhile, he says the terrible condition of many country roads is also due to the frequent freeze-thaw cycles this past winter.

"That cycling of cold, freezing temperatures to warm temperatures usually causes the frost to really go down and get that ice established in the soil below. And then, when it thaws out in the spring time, that moisture has nowhere to go because that moisture is trapped there so the top layer becomes jello and then you get these blowouts happening."

Kalyta adds there are also a lot of bumpy highways right now which will get better once the frost is out and the road beds dry out.