Montreal warns vigilante pavers to stop patching potholes

"I'm doing this for the love of my city," Saad Tekiout says. "I think we deserve to have better roads."

Montreal’s potholes have become so out of hand that vigilantes are now taking to filling them in themselves.

In recent days, two people have gained notoriety because they have patched dozens of potholes on their own time and with their own supplies and money. Both resorted to repairing craters after breaking parts of their cars on potholes.

Earlier this week, downtown resident Saad Tekiout became an Instagram hit after videos of him filling potholes around the city were shared widely.

Tekiout, who owns Marquize Paysagement, said he was frustrated after he busted a tire while running over a pothole in Laval. After a friend got a flat tire on the same pothole, he decided enough was enough and he repaired it himself. Little by little, family members, friends and then strangers contacted him to ask him to patch potholes around the city. He’s now up to three per day and has been doing it for about a month now — that’s close to 100 potholes filled.

“People are really happy when I do this,” he said. “It gives a sense that we’re all in this together as a community.”

Tekiout gets asphalt and shovels it out from his truck for patches that he said will stay in place for about two years.

“This isn’t really my domain, but I’m doing this for the love of my city,” he said. “I think we deserve to have better roads.”

Another vigilante worker is also getting into the act. Anthony Khan, 38, the owner of Pavage Milan, is extending a hand to Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada in hopes municipal crews can learn from his technique of filling potholes.

Khan, a Laval resident, said he has often fixed potholes as part of his day-to-day work as a landscaper.

“If we pave someone’s driveway and there’s a pothole there, I’m going to fill it in,” he said.

In recent months, Khan has picked up the pace. He figures he has fixed between 10 and 15 potholes since the beginning of the year.

Khan said he has specialized equipment that can produce patches with a technique he claims is better than that used by the city’s crews.

“Nobody is saying that city workers don’t work hard, but with the equipment we have, we are faster,” he said. “I could do between 500 and 1,000 patches per day easily.”

Both Khan and Tekiout say their goal isn’t to gain notoriety, but rather to do their part to make the city safer.

“I got three cracked mags, and I have three kids that I drive around. I see people swerving next to me, and it’s dangerous,” Khan said.

However, Martinez Ferrada is discouraging people from repairing the streets themselves. She commented on Tekiout’s Instagram account to tell him to leave the street repairs to the city’s professionals.

Khan said with the state of the roads as they are, there has to be a better way to manage the situation.

“Maybe they should reach out and try to figure out how they can work with us,” Khan said. “I’m hoping she’s going to make me a deal to pay me by the day, or pay me by the ton of asphalt.”

It's all fun and games until they get caught and ticketed." Avi Levy, co-founder of Ticket911

However, while both pothole vigilantes are being lauded with positive comments, they should be aware that even though they are helping to improve the city’s streets, their actions are illegal, said lawyer Avi Levy, the co-founder of Ticket911, a law firm that helps people fight tickets.

“The potholes are pretty crazy; there seems to be a lot more and they seem more dangerous,” Levy said. “But filling potholes yourself is illegal. It’s basically modifying a public infrastructure, or doing unauthorized work on city property.

“They can get a fine, or they can get sued. It’s all fun and games until they get caught and ticketed.”

Levy said this could become a logistical nightmare for the city, because it doesn’t take long to fill a pothole. Someone can repair a hole before an inspector can be alerted to the work they are doing.

However, in the case of Tekiout, having stated his name and showing himself on video patching roads without authorization would give city inspectors everything they need to issue a fine.

“There is a process to work for the city,” Levy said. “You have to have a bid. You have to quote, and specify what materials you’re going to use. It’s not just ‘the city should call me and I’ll fix it for them at a better price.’ It just doesn’t work that way.”

A spokesperson for Martinez Ferrada didn’t return The Gazette’s request for comment.