Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Nov 03/99) - It's the time of year for the dreaded hissing sound, but whether there's more hissing than usual or not is anyone's guess.

With the arrival of snow came the first layer of gravel the city uses each year to give tires some bite on roads. Some drivers have found the road is biting back at an alarming rate, causing numerous flats.

No one is on the road more than cab drivers, and City Cab office manager Sherry Graham said drivers there are coping with plenty of flats.

"It's incredible!" said Graham of the flat tire situation over the last three weeks.

"One car in particular I can think of, the driver ended up having to replace all four tires because they were going flat continuously.

"He went in to get four new tires and since then he's had two flats a day. And there are many other drivers like that too."

Last year was a banner year for city tire repair and replacement businesses. That winter the city changed gravel suppliers.

Autotec's Brian Hixenbaugh said the company is on track for another banner year if the last two weeks are any indication.

"We usually see two flats a week and we're now seeing 25 a week," said Hixenbaugh.

Public works director Gary Craig said the city has since switched back to the supplier it had the year before last.

"We've got the red rock that we said we'd get," said Craig. "It's a lot rounder than the other stuff, with none of the arrow-head shaped pieces there were in the gravel we used last year."

Craig said he's had three complaints from drivers about gravel this year. He said this time of year, with a small amount of snow on the road, the gravel is more likely to pierce tires than after a layer of snow has built up.

"We used the same rock two years ago and we never had a single complaint," said Craig.

There may be some businesses in town using the sharper gravel in their parking lots, he said.

Grant Gladue, parts manager at Canadian Tire, said it's busy there, but no busier than usual.

Flat tires are a seasonal thing, said Westown Tire employee Ron Poitras.

"It's just that time of the year. When they put rocks down you're going to get flats."