Voting open for CAA Worst Roads campaign – will Barton Street in Hamilton be #1 again?
Published March 28, 2023 at 1:53 pm
Think the roads in your town are bad? Visit the CAA Worst Roads website and cast your ballot, though it should be noted that the mean streets of Durham Region don’t make the final list very often.
Barton Street in Hamilton finished #1 in the Ontario rankings in 2022, the 19th year for the road safety advocacy campaign.
The best, or worst, if you will, that Durham has done in recent years was a fifth-place finish in the regional rankings for Durham, York, Halton and Peel in 2021 for Farewell Street in Oshawa. The last time a Durham road made the provincial top ten was in 2019 when Carnegie Road in Port Perry was ranked ninth in Ontario.
For the past two decades, the campaign has given decision-makers a snapshot of the roads that the public perceives as not meeting their expectations.
“Our research tells us that 85 per cent of Ontarians are concerned about the state of our roads,” said Teresa Di Felice, assistant vice president of government and community relations at CAA. “Due to inflation, consumers are being more mindful of their purchases, and people are opting to hold on to their cars for longer instead of buying a new one. Funding for roadway improvements and proper infrastructure needs to be consistent to ensure that quality and safety are maintained.”
CAA’s research also showed that nearly 60 per cent of CAA members say Ontario’s roads have worsened. Drivers often alter their driving behaviour to accommodate road issues.
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Many of them – two-thirds – are slowing down for bad spots on the road or swerving to avoid potholes, and the study showed that more than three-quarters of respondents were “frustrated’ with the state of Ontario’s roads, but usually express that dissatisfaction to their loved ones or colleagues instead of the government.
The CAA Worst Roads campaign allows all road users in Ontario to vote for roads that they think need urgent repair.
Since 2003, 114 roads in Ontario have appeared on the provincial Top 10 list, of which governments have prioritized some of the roads for repair.
Shortly after Barton St. E. in Hamilton made #1 on the 2022 list, the City announced a multi-year, multi-phase reconstruction of the beleaguered Hamilton route scheduled to begin late last year.
Other roads, such as Plank Road in Sarnia, Victoria Road in Prince Edward County, Lauzon Parkway in Windsor and Bell Farm Road in Barrie, have also undergone significant repairs after appearing on the provincial Top 10 Worst Roads list.
“The campaign has demonstrated that decision-makers are paying attention to the results, which has prompted municipal officials to move up infrastructure projects in their communities,” said Di Felice.
The CAA Worst Roads campaign calls on all Ontarians to vote for their Worst Road today and join the community of drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians committed to improving Ontario’s roads.
Votes can be submitted until April 21 by visiting https://caaworstroads.com/
