City has no plans to repave 'horrendous' Vancouver street

Growing potholes on a popular shortcut for drivers in East Vancouver are so big and plentiful that neighbours often hear tires slam into their traps.

In fact, a block of East 62nd Avenue off Argyle Street is in such bad shape, drivers describe it as looking more like the surface of the moon.

"From home, I can hear boom!" said Nick Asefi, who lives across the street and often sees drivers hit potholes.

"It has an impact on bearings and different mechanical parts in the car," he said.

The small neighbourhood road is particularly busy during rush hour, because it's a quick way for drivers to get off the Knight Street Bridge and onto Argyle Street.

"This road is terrible, like, absolutely terrible," said a tow truck driver.

"It's never been good," he said.

And its decaying state is evidence that it was never meant to be used as a thoroughfare.

"The cars are trying to avoid the holes, especially in the winter time, so I have to be careful that nobody runs me over," a pedestrian explained.

The City of Vancouver considers 62nd Avenue an "unimproved" local street, because it doesn't have curbs, sidewalks or gutters.

"The cost to repair an ‘unimproved’ street is significantly higher than a standard ‘improved’ street," a city spokesperson wrote in a statement.

"The 1600 block of E 62nd Ave was last repaved in 2012 and is not scheduled for additional repaving in the current Capital Plan," it reads.

The city may reassess the need to repave the block in its next budget.