SASKATOON -- Spring’s early arrival means the snow and ice are disappearing fast from roads, allowing city crews to tackle the spring to-do list earlier than normal.

“Saskatoon streets are looking really great right now, they’re drying up nicely,” said Tracy Danielson, roadways manager, City of Saskatoon.

“Moisture is a very big factor in the formation of potholes so a combination of great weather and the huge effort that was put in this year with snow removal, the streets are looking really great.”

While hot-mix asphalt won’t be ready to hit the street until mid-April, Danielson said roadway crews are tackling nasty potholes with cold-mix, made up of recycled asphalt and gravel.

But with the dusting of snow covering the city on Tuesday and the potential for more snow later in the week, Danielson said the roads are too wet to continue.

“This time of year is a transitional period because the weather can change dramatically,” she said.

“Today crews are applying salt to address any icy conditions and as streets dry up and temperatures stay above freezing, crews will shift to pothole repairs and street sweeping.”

The city’s undertaking to remove snow from residential streets following a crippling storm in November, along with the warm couple of weeks, helped roadway crews begin spring operations sooner.

“The great thing about this year is that crews will be able to get out there with pothole repairs and street-sweeping quite a bit earlier than we did last year,” she said.

Residents once again have the option to report a problematic pothole on the city’s website.