If Canada is rich, why do they fix sidewalks with asphalt?

Question

Every time they need to do some road work here, they fix the sidewalks with asphalt and it looks like they are part of the street. Sometimes they never cover them. It looks really cheap. Have you noticed that?

Answer 1

I haven't noticed that here in St. John's, NL.  Where are you...

Answer 2

I know that asphalt patching of sidewalks happens here in Montreal.

Many parts of Canada suffer from spring thaw issues, in that the water gets into the cracks on the sidewalks or beneath them, and then freezes which widens the crack or changes the level of the sidewalk. Then we have trucks and buses that take corners to sharply and push down on the sidewalk or crack it. Our sidewalks here in Montreal take such a beating in the winter and spring that they can sometimes look like 1-2 inch steps from one square to the next.

To avoid people from tripping and to make it easier on the disabled, the city goes around with a asphalt patching crew and tries to fill in any gaps they see, to try and give everyone an even surface to walk on.

We have also had numerous water main breaks (many are almost 100 yrs old and corroded from years of road salt eating at them), which lead to construction crews hastily digging up the street, fixing the main, then patching the road and sidewalk. (check out the impressive youtube video)

It does look like h**l and would be nice if they were to stick to one or the other and not mix the two. But because of the extensive money they would need to completely fix all the infrastructure issues in Montreal which has suffered years of neglect because politicians were too busy funnelling money away to private partisan firms, or throwing money at other issues (separation referendums for example), the funds are simply not there to fix the sidewalks properly. Canada is rich with resources, but we don't necessarily spend our money on the right things.

Which would you rather have: An ugly patched sidewalk that is at least safe to use so we can repair a bridge, or a bridge that is ready to collapse because the money was spent fixing sidewalks?

Answer 3

You make it sound like we should be keeping up with the Jones' with our road repairs. As already pointed out, with spring thaws being what they are, it is a never ending process that makes doing repairs to be esthetically pleasing a scandalous waste of money. Please do not run for a government post - the guys (and gals) that are there now are doing a bang up job of wasting money without you.