They've become a growing pain, not just for residents but for City Hall as well.   Frost boils are developing on several Moose Jaw streets.

"The deep patches where you see the pavement breaking up into puck-like chunks are not something we like to see," said City Engineer Josh Mickleborough.  "These deep patches are road reconstruction, which is extremely expensive."

Especially when compared to fixing a pothole, Mickleborough explained.

"Potholes are a localized repair, while a frostboil is a larger failure," he said. "For the same size, it would be roughly 150 times the cost to repair the road base."

Mickleborough says it's no secret as to why the frost boils bubble up: wet winter weather and fluctuating temperatures.

"Soil moisture levels would aggravate (the issue) and the freeze/thaw works that moisture in and breaks up the surface, which then allows more moisture down there."

"You see a  number of them and it's a  huge issue because they are a huge inconvenience," Mickleborough said.

Mickleborough says they're getting a lot of calls from residents on affected streets but because of the cost, each road has to be put on a list and the repair has to be budgeted for.