What’s Wrong With the Tar, Mac? Voting for bad roads yields results

MANITOWANING, Ont. — A short strip of so-called highway between this central Manitoulin Island village and the adjacent Native Reserve called Wikwemikong was the hands-down winner in the Municipal Roads Coalition/Canadian Automobile Association’s (CAA) Worst Road in Ontario survey last year.

It’s called Cardwell Road and by all accounts it’ll shake your dentures loose, not to mention your undercarriage bolts.

That’s why it emerged the clear leader from among the more than 5,000 votes sent in last year.

Lousy roads can loosen your dentures and your wallet

Second prize went to Ottawa’s Limebank Rd. Steeles Ave. West in Toronto — the 2005 overall winner — placed third; Western Rd. of London fourth, and rounding out the top five was a street called Lansing Ave. in Sudbury.

And next Monday, August 30, the campaign will begin again and you’re invited to log onto to www.worstroads.ca to register your dissatisfaction with city lanes on which you depend for a living.

As entertaining as it is to read about just how lousy some roads can be, the campaign is not to be taken lightly. People in trucking, especially, have a vested interest in casting their votes because rough roads take their toll on equipment, drivers, and, in fact, bottom lines.

And the site is seeing results. Since the launch in 2003, the coalition has named 46 different roads on its annual top 20 list. The municipal governments told the coalition they have taken or are taking action to fix 86 percent of those roads.

In fact, municipalities reported that 65 percent of the roads have undergone repairs or are currently under construction and 21 percent of them are scheduled for construction this year or are going through the redesign or environmental assessment processes.

“We are thrilled with the results of the campaign to date, and it really shows that your vote for a worst road really matters,” said Rob Bradford, executive director of the Ontario Road Builders’ Association.

Added CAA Ontario Provincial Affairs Specialist Kris Barnier: “Ontarians want safe, efficient and uncongested roads and we believe they deserve them.”