Last year, Dufferin Street was voted as the worst road in Ontario. This year, motorists have the opportunity to select its successor.
The South Central Ontario branch of the Canadian Automobile Association starts its annual month-long campaign to name Ontario’s worst roads tomorrow.
According to the CAA’s Fey Lyons, the campaign, which has been in existence for 11 years, gives the public the opportunity to vote for the roads they feel need to be repaired or reconstructed.
“We want to hear from road users about the condition of roads across Ontario,” says Lyons. “We want to hear about safety concerns about pot holes and the state of infrastructure.”
Lyons says that Ontario motorists pay upwards of 7 billion dollars a year in gas taxes and licensing fees.
“We’d like to see that money rededicated into our roads and transportation infrastructure.”
The Ontario Road Builders Association started the campaign in 2003 before transferring it to the CAA. ORBA builds the roads, bridges, highways and other transportation infrastructure in Ontario.
The Executive Director of ORBA, Geoff Wilkinson, says the organization currently verifies the information provided from the nominations.
“Once we have the preliminary list from CAA, we do an analysis of the roads to validate what was voted on as well as the condition of the roads and we provide CAA with a written report of that road,” says Wilkinson.
Lyons says the some of the past recommendations of the CAA have been instrumental in the reconstruction of certain roads.
“Steeles was our number one worst road and it received a significant amount of funding from the federal government and the city and it went from our worst road to the best road,” says Lyons.
Ajay Woozageer, a Ministry for Transportation spokesperson, said in an e-mail that the Ontario government is dedicated to maintaining safe roads for the community.
“We have a good working relationship with CAA, are aware of their annual campaign and are committed to ensuring that roads in Ontario remain safe.”
Voting starts tomorrow on the Worst Roads Campaign website.
