- When the need is great, a hero will be there to fix your roads.
The legal authorities have failed to uphold public order, and the people need a savior. In the dead of night, lone vigilantes take it upon themselves to make things right in the city.
They prowl the streets, fixing all potholes they can.
Sounds like a plot to a superhero comedy, but it’s reality in Montreal. The Canadian city’s streets are in such extreme disrepair that local contractors have started fixing them themselves.
On their own money, on their own dime, Saad Tekiout and Anthony Khan are going around Montreal, repairing potholes. They don’t ask for glory, just for safer streets.
But just like in every vigilante story, the powers that be don’t like it when residents stop relying on them. Tekiout and Khan have both been warned that what they’re doing is illegal and their actions could earn them hefty fines.
Yet, the two don’t care. “I think we deserve to have better roads,” Tekiout said.
‘For the Love of My City’
I won’t sugarcoat it; the roads of Montreal are in an atrocious state. It’s so bad that earlier this year, the city awarded emergency contracts to 10 companies to repair the crumbling pavement.
That hasn’t been enough for Saad Tekiout. The straw that broke his back came after both he and his friend blew a tire on the same pothole in Montreal’s Laval area.
Tekiout owns the landscaping and paving company Marquize Paysagement. He had the tools and skills, so he decided to fix the hole himself.
Afterward, his family members, friends, and even strangers started asking him to come and fix potholes on their roads. Now, Tekiout roams the city after work hours, patching pavement wherever he goes.
He told the Montreal Gazette that he fixes up to three potholes a day. So far, he’s filled about 100.
“People are really happy when I do this. It gives a sense that we’re all in this together as a community,” he mused.
He also records his pothole operations for Instagram to spread awareness of the problem. Tekiout understands, however, that he’s working without official sanction.
The asphalt plugs he installs will last around two years, he says. In that time, he hopes that an official work crew can come and put in a more permanent fix.
“This isn’t really my domain, but I’m doing this for the love of my city,” said Tekiout.
Let’s Work Together
Anthony Khan is another Montreal pothole vigilante. The 38-year-old owner of the Pavage Milan landscaping company has experience fixing driveway and pothole issues.
“If we pave someone’s driveway and there’s a pothole there, I’m going to fill it in,” Khan said.
Like Tekiout, he got sick of putting up with Montreal’s disastrous roads. He might be able to deal with himself, but with his children in the car, he won’t stand for the potholes.
“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,” he said.
Khan said that due to his day-to-day job, he has special equipment that can patch a pothole faster and better than city crews. He’s not as active as Tekiout, but he has patched about 15 holes this year alone.
“Nobody is saying that city workers don’t work hard, but with the equipment we have, we are faster. I could do between 500 and 1,000 patches per day easily,” Khan estimated.
As such, he hopes he can stop being a vigilante and become an official city worker. He has the equipment and the skills, so Khan believes the city’s hiring him would serve both their interests.
“Maybe they should reach out and try to figure out how they can work with us,” said Khan.
Official Warnings
The citizens might love Tekiout and Khan, but they have adversaries in high places. Montreal mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada has gone public, saying that people shouldn’t repair potholes on their own.
With her official social media account, Martinez Ferrada has posted a comment on Tekiout’s videos to cut it off and leave repairs for city professionals.
Indeed, Tekiout and Khan are carrying out illegal actions. Filling potholes on your own counts as modifying public infrastructure without a permit and carrying out unauthorized work on public property.
Under the law, Tekiout and Khan could both face significant fines for essentially vandalizing public property. According to law experts, Tekiout in particular is putting himself at risk by posting his face online under his real name.
But obviously, the city’s efforts haven’t been sufficient to maintain Montreal’s roads. Can you blame the two for deciding they’ve had enough?