Dufferin, St. Clair & Lawrence top CAA’s worst-roads list
Posted May 2, 2012 2:41 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Toronto has swept a recent roads ranking but drivers aren’t celebrating the results.
The Canadian Automobile Association’s (CAA) annual top 10 worst Ontario roads list came out on Wednesday and five busy, pothole-ridden routes in Toronto made the cut.
Dufferin Street, which has always been the bridesmaid but never the bride, finally reached No. 1 status this year. The CAA said 80 per cent of drivers who voted for Dufferin complained about potholes and crumbling pavement.
This is the sixth year Dufferin has made the list. The CAA said the stretch from the Exhibition to St. Clair Avenue West is the worst.
Lawrence Avenue East came in at No. 6, Finch Avenue West is No. 8, followed by Kingston Road and Bayview Avenue.
But there may be some solace for drivers and cyclists forced to use the shoddy streets to get to and from work, CAA spokeswoman Faye Lyons said.
“We’ve had a great success rate. Right up to 90 per cent of the roads that have been listed on our top worst roads list have been repaired,” she said.
After being named a worst road two years running, in 2010 Steeles Avenue in Toronto was voted the best road in the province.
Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong, who chairs the city’s public works committee, said repair crews are scheduled to work on Dufferin soon.
“The majority of the roads on the list—work will be done this year,” he told CityNews on Wednesday.
He said much-needed repairs on the bumpy stretch of Dufferin have been delayed in the past due to work on the Dufferin jog, just north of Queen Street. With that project completed, city crews must ensure work on the road and utilities in that area are coordinated.
The city currently spends $200 million a year on maintaining roads, but there’s still a $300-million backlog of repairs. Minnan-Wong said if the city doesn’t beef up funding for roads by $40 million a year, that backlog could balloon to $750 million by 2021.
Crumbling concrete wasn’t the only complaint, Lyons said. The CAA also heard drivers’ beefs about traffic light synchronization and other issues.
Burlington Street in Hamilton also made the cut at No. 3. Routes in St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, Ottawa and Timmins also made it on this year’s list.
1. Dufferin Street (Toronto)
2. Bunting Road (St. Catharines)
3. Burlington Street East (Hamilton)
4. Stanley Avenue (Niagara Falls)
5. Kraft Creek Road (Timmins)
6. Lawrence Avenue East (Toronto)
7. Carling Avenue (Ottawa)
8. Finch Avenue West (Toronto)
9. Kingston Road (Toronto)
10. Bayview Avenue (Toronto)