Four local roads make worst list
75 per cent of voters cite potholes as pet peeve, CAA survey reveals
Four Windsor-Essex roads are among the worst in Southwestern Ontario, according to a vote conducted by the Canadian Automobile Association. Each year, CAA invites people to pick the worst roads across Canada.
The automobile club releases lists by province and by smaller regions, including the southwest. The report defined the southwest as including the ChathamKent municipality, Essex County and Lambton County. Seminole and Tecumseh Road East both made the list last year.
So did Sarnia’s Plank Road. Burlington Street East in Hamilton was top of the list for all of Ontario, with County Road 49 in Prince Edward County coming second. Regional lists included the Western, Niagara, Central, Eastern, and Northern regions. Toronto, Hamilton and Ottawa had their own lists, as did Halton, Peel, York and Durham regions.
A press release by CAA South Central Ontario Monday said more than 3,500 roads were nominated from across Ontario this year. That’s the highest number since the campaign’s inception 15 years ago. Drivers accounted for more than three quarters of the votes cast, while roughly nine per cent of votes were from cyclists and a further nine per cent were from pedestrians.
As for the voter’s reasons for their choices, 75 per cent cited potholes, 14 per cent highlighted limited or no cycling infrastructure, and 10 per cent chose congestion as their primary issue.
The press release also stated the purpose for the annual list is to make roads safer by helping municipal and provincial governments understand what roadway improvements are important to citizens, and where they need to be made.