CAA Niagara focuses on ‘bad and the bumpy’
Auto association launches its 15th annual worst roads campaign
THE POTHOLES were jarring, and they seemed endless on a tour of some of the worst roads in the region.
“The good news is you don’t have to stir your coffee,” quipped CAA driver Mike Brzozowski, as a black executive bus swayed nauseatingly while crossing uneven pavement on St. David’s Road in Thorold.
Municipal and regional representatives climbed aboard the Coventry Transportation bus Tuesday, joining CAA Niagara for a ride on several of Niagara’s worst roads — described by the organization’s president and chief executive officer, Peter Van Hezewyk, as a tour of “the bad and the bumpy.”
The tour, held to launch CAA’s 15th annual Worst Roads campaign, rolled down streets in Thorold, Niagara Falls and St. Catharines on asphalt that made the top 10 list a year earlier.
The organization is again asking drivers, cyclists and pedestrians to vote for the worst roads in Niagara, by using the CAA cellphone app or logging onto caaworstroads.com/ niagara. Participants are limited to voting for one road per day, but they can vote daily until voting closes
April 13. The results will be released in late May.
Van Hezewyk said the objectives of the campaign are to get people to “speak up on behalf of the friends and neighbours about roads that need repair,” while also pressuring the Ontario government to provide adequate municipal infrastructure funding.
As the bus continued along St. David’s Road, CAA public relations specialist Alex Pedersen said “it is full of crumbling pavement and potholes.”
“The harsh winter we had obviously didn’t help the infrastructure,” she added.
Said Niagara Region associate director of transportation engineering Frank Tassone, “This year was bad,” adding temperature swings can have a severe impact on pavement.
“You’ll see more potholes appearing because of that,” he said.
But when it comes to the condition of St. David’s Road, he said the Region shares responsibility for maintaining portions of it with Thorold and St. Catharines.
He said the Region is planning the reconstruction of its portion of the road by 2019 or 2020, and work on the sections under the jurisdiction of the lower-tier municipalities will follow.
Pedersen reacted as the bus slammed into a series of potholes on Dorchester Road in Niagara Falls, as the tour continued.
“That’s what we wanted you to experience today,” she said. “Many people have reported crumbling pavement and potholes as being one of the biggest issues for Dorchester.”
The road has been on Niagara’s top 10 list since 2015.
The tour also included the smooth pavement of Queenston Street — transformed after nearly eight months of work after ranking No. 1 on last year’s worst roads list and No. 5 across the province.
“We also wanted you to know there’s some good out there, too,” Van Hezewyk said.
Tassone said most roads on the list are on his list of priorities.
Niagara Regional Police StaffSgt. Rome Diegidio said his vote is going to be for Dominion Road, referring to the Fort Erie thoroughfare that ranked No. 3 in the 2017 list.
Tassone said Dominion Road is set for repaving this summer, from Burleigh to Buffalo roads. It’s part of a $10-million construction project, expected to be completed by 2021.
Diegidio lauded CAA for its annual initiative he credits with increasing the focus on road safety, at a time of year when drivers are also seeing more more pedestrians, cyclists and motorcycles sharing the pavement.
Voters are eligible for weekly prizes including a $100 Kelsey’s gift card and a top prize of $2,500 of Petro-Canada gasoline.