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Monday December 29, 2003

St Clair Named One of Ontario's Worst Roads
3rd Worst in Toronto - 5th Worst in Ontario

Do you recognize this pothole? You would if you've ever hit it.*

*Yes, I know, they've patched it up - but it's still recognizable.

A recent announcement by the Municipal Roads Coalition (www.worstroads.ca) included the following caption for St Clair "Pick a spot! The whole street is a disgrace."

The full comment from the nomination committee reads as follows:

Section from Dufferin Street east to past Yonge Street can no longer be fixed. Total reconstruction is the only solution for this major cross-city route. Pavement is failed in more locations than you can count. Deep wide ruts, layers of past patching, depressed utilities and crater cracks everywhere. Major problem is the streetcar track with completely failed concrete bed.

The full list of streets and highways judged to be among the most congested, dangerous, and/or poorly maintained in the province are:

1. Steeles Avenue, (Yonge Street to Bathurst Street) Toronto

2. Tashmoo Avenue, (Full length) Sarnia

3. Regent Street, (Full length, esp. Martindale Rd, north to Four Corners) Sudbury

4. Dufferin Street, (From CNE north to Bloor Street) Toronto

5. St. Clair Avenue, (Pick a spot! The whole street is a disgrace) Toronto

6. Municipal Road 55, (Copper Cliff to Lively) Sudbury

7. Wellington Road, (Full Length) London

8. Christina Street, (Wellington to Centennial) Sarnia

9. Huron Church Road, (Full length) Windsor

10. Steeles Avenue, (Northwest of Toronto) Vaughan, Brampton & Milton

11. County Road 56, (Sideroads 21 to 25, through Essa Township) County of Simcoe

12. Wellington Street, (Full length) Barrie

13. Columbia Street, (King Street to Phillip Street) Waterloo

14. Centennial Parkway, (Worst stretch between King Street and QEW) Hamilton

15. Bronson Avenue, (Laurier to south of the Queensway) Ottawa

16. Lincoln Street, (Full length) Welland

17. Syndicate Avenue, (Near Walsh Street) Thunder Bay

18. Mowat Avenue, (2 blocks south from Forsythe Street) Kingston

19. Ferguson Street, (Full length) Moosonee

20. Ridout Street, (Full length) North Bay

Selection was based on public nominations and site inspections. Over the past two months, more than 1,300 people from across the province logged on to www.worstroads.ca to vote. The top-ranked sites were then inspected by local road experts.

The ‘worst roads’ campaign was launched by the CAA and four other organizations concerned about road maintenance and construction – the Ontario Motor Coach Association, the Ontario Trucking Association, the Ontario Road Builders Association, and the Insurance Bureau of Canada. Together, they formed the Municipal Roads Coalition.