All Roads' High-Efficiency Approach to Cut Repair

With no prior maintenance division, All Roads took on 1,800 utility-cut repairs in Vancouver—and used an all-in-one machine never before seen in Canada to do it.

In 2025, All Roads Construction took on one of the most ambitious municipal patching programs in British Columbia: a $5.4 million pilot contract from the City of Vancouver to restore asphalt, curbs and sidewalks at 1,800 utility-cut locations across the city. Though structured as a one-year initiative, the project offers an option to extend annually for up to five years based on performance.

With a backlog that stretched more than a decade and urban working conditions that left little room for staging equipment, the project demanded more than traditional patching methods. It required speed, efficiency and innovation. “This project is really just for one year with an option for four more years,” said Denis Labelle, vice president of operations at All Roads. “So we really wanted to impress the City of Vancouver because we want to make sure those four years come our way.”

The pressure to perform was matched by the scale of opportunity. “The project is set at $5.4 million a year, but the city has $30 million worth of patches to catch up on,” Labelle said. “So it really comes down to what we can accomplish in a year. If we keep going the way we’ve been, we might get through $7 million worth of patches this year. The more efficient we can be, the more revenue we can generate.”

Although All Roads wasn’t the lowest bidder for the job, they were ultimately selected based on their ability to deliver. “The city trusted that we were capable of marshaling the resources needed for such a massive undertaking,” Labelle said. To deliver on the city’s expectations, All Roads knew they’d need more than manpower—they’d need a new approach.

With no prior history in maintenance work, the project gave All Roads a chance to break into the space in a big way. Unbound by conventional patching methods, they had the freedom to rethink the process from the ground up. And they’ve done just that—rewriting the playbook on municipal maintenance and becoming the first contractor in Canada to deploy the JCB Pothole Pro.

Taking On the Backlog

The backlog All Roads was brought in to tackle was staggering. The repairs themselves weren’t complex—but the sheer volume and age of the outstanding work underscored how far behind the city had fallen. “Right now, there are still work orders from 2008, 2010 that haven’t been done,” Labelle noted.

In Vancouver, when developers connect new buildings to water, sewer or gas lines, they typically leave behind temporary patches in sidewalks, curbs and roadways. The City holds back funds to complete the repairs but often ends up doing the work itself. Over time, the backlog grew into the thousands, far beyond what in-house municipal crews could handle.

The conditions in Vancouver—tight alleyways, street parking scarcity and dense residential traffic—added layers of complexity that went beyond scheduling. The All Roads team realized the traditional equipment model—milling machine, skid steer and excavator—wouldn’t be feasible on a citywide scale.

With so many small sites across a dense urban area, conventional equipment setups weren’t going to cut it. “Once we got the project, in typical fashion, we started looking at what’s the quickest way to do it,” Labelle said.

That led him to an unexpected discovery. “I kind of stumbled upon the JCB Pothole Pro. I didn’t even know this machine existed.” As he researched further, he realized the machine hadn’t yet been deployed in Canada—and could offer a significant tactical edge.

The JCB Pothole Pro combines a 24-inch side-shifting planer, 4-foot sweeper, 16-inch cropping tool and 180° tilt rotator on a wheeled excavator platform. It also featured a 25-mph travel speed, eliminating the need for lowboy transport between urban patch locations.

All Roads arranged a demo at their asphalt plant, and the results were immediate. “I actually had to tell my guys to quit praising the machine in front of the salesman because you’re making it harder for me to get a deal,” Labelle said.

Labelle said the machine’s versatility makes it invaluable: “Besides patching, there are other things you can use the machine for. It could mill around your manholes on a larger milling job, it can cut your edges straight, it can dig trenches, it can do all kinds of things. It’s really a Swiss army knife of a machine.”

Replacing Three Machines with One

Before adopting the Pothole Pro, the plan would have required multiple machines on every site. “With the pothole patcher, we go from three pieces of equipment (a milling machine, a skid steer and an excavator) to just one piece of equipment that costs a fraction of what those three machines would have cost all together,” Labelle said.

And the benefits didn’t stop at cost savings. “Having all three of those machines on each job would take up so much space and require so much more coordination,” Labelle said. “In downtown Vancouver, there is so little parking that even if we put up no parking signs, people just move them because there’s often nowhere else to park.”

The machine also offers distinct safety benefits on projects in such close quarters. “With less equipment, there’s [fewer] opportunities for people to get caught in the crosshairs of a busy construction site,” he added. “It also makes our job site less complicated and it makes it a whole lot easier for our traffic control people to manage.”

Labelle credits a company culture of openness to change as a big reason for the success. “There are a lot of people in this industry who are still doing things the way they did them in 1995,” he said. “It can be scary to change your processes, but I think that is exactly what makes us successful.”

Rod Stephens, President and CEO of All Roads added, “We are so proud of our entire team for continuing to think outside our traditional industry boxes to provide new and improved levels of service.”

Results in the Field

As the crews began deploying the Pothole Pro across Vancouver, the machine quickly proved itself. “The City of Vancouver used to do four asphalt patches a day and we’re doing about 14,” Labelle said. Even with a single crew assigned to each work stream—milling, concrete removal, paving—their productivity far outpaced expectations. “We’re looking at having their list done by August, which they thought would take us the entire season.” [Editor’s Note: As of press time, the All Roads crews were on track to achieve their August goal.]

And it wasn’t just management that came around. “We had a superintendent who really wanted us to go for the milling machine, instead of or in addition to this,” said Labelle. “Now that he’s seen the machine in action, he says we need two of them.”

Adopting new technology can often come with a learning curve and therefore some resistance from operators, but All Roads found the transition smooth. “To train our operators, the JCB reps came out and gave us a crash course on the machine,” Labelle said. “We have some very good operators who picked it up quickly.”

After several months of consistent deployment, Labelle sees the Pothole Pro as an essential part of All Roads’ fleet. “This machine is a no-brainer for me,” he said. “It saves us time, saves us money, makes the job easier, requires less resources, and it’s safer.”

Labelle sees the Pothole Pro as the most effective patching tool he’s encountered in his decades of experience. “When it comes to patching, there’s no better way than to use this machine that I’ve seen in my 30 years in this industry. If you don’t believe the hype, ask your dealer for a demo.”

A Scalable Model for Urban Maintenance?

While the scope of Vancouver’s pilot is specific to its needs and constraints, the approach All Roads has taken—pairing private-sector capacity with compact, versatile equipment—offers a potential reference point for other municipalities facing similar backlogs.

The project’s early progress highlights what can be achieved when contractors are given room to rethink the workflow. For All Roads, that meant identifying tools that fit the realities of urban sites and training crews to adapt quickly.

As Labelle put it, “There are a lot of municipalities across North America that are struggling to keep up with their patching. I think what the City of Vancouver is doing, what we’re helping them do, is a good model other municipalities could use to catch up on that work.”

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