Montreal’s potholes have gotten so out of hand that vigilantes are taking to filling them in themselves. I recent days, two people have gained notoriety because they’ve patched dozens of potholes on their own time and with their own supplies. Both resorted to repairing craters after breaking parts of their cars on potholes. Earlier this week, downtown resident Saad Tekiout (pictured) became an Instagram hit after videos of him filling potholes around the city were widely shared. Tekiout said he was frustrated after he busted a tire while running over a pothole, and after a friend got a flat tire on the same pothole, he decided enough was enough. 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 about three a day and has been doing it for about a month now, filling around 100 potholes so far. Tekiout gets asphalt and shovels it out from his truck for patches that he said will stay in place for about two years. Another vigilante worker is also getting in on the act. Anthony Khan 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. He figures he has fixed between 10 and 15 potholes since the beginning of the year. Both Khan and Tekiout say their goal isn’t to gain notoriety, but rather to do their part to make the city safer. The City of Montreal, however, says what these men are doing is illegal, pointing out that they're basically modifying a public infrastructure. With videos of both men repairing potholes posted on social media, the city has all it needs to either sue the men or heavily fine them.
