Sudbury streets make CAA's Worst Roads list (again)
Sudbury people 'on fire' reporting damaged roads, CAA says
The Canadian Automobile Association's (CAA) official list won't be out until June, but the group says several roads in northern Ontario have made its annual Worst Roads list.
Each year, the non-profit organization asks its Ontario members to vote on the worst roads in the province.
Julie Beun, CAA's director of communications and public relations for North and East Ontario, said the annual report is released to municipalities, who can use the data set to prioritize repairs.
"As a whole data set [municipalities] can say, okay, here's where people are actually reporting poor roads or crumbling infrastructure and they can prioritize accordingly.
As votes came in, CAA members also took the opportunity to send photos or videos to illustrate some of the damages.
In particular, Beun said one video filmed on Sudbury's Bancroft Drive stood out.
"I swear that woman took her life into her own hands, with her granddaughter, filming in the passenger seat," Beun said.
Despite that video, Bancroft Drive was listed as the 12th worst road in the province, while other Sudbury streets include Lansing Avenue, Barry Downe Road, Fielding Road, Vermillion Lake Road, Paris Street, Regent Street and Panache Lake Road.
"The people of Sudbury are on fire this year in terms of reporting the worst roads," Beun said.
Another member sent images of deep potholes scattered throughout the city.
"He must have sent in about a dozen images with his tape measure," she said. "He was measuring the potholes around him and then sending us the images, wasn't voting or anything, just wanted us to know what was going on out there."
As more people hit the road with the warming weather, Beun said, they're noticing the road improvements that need to be made.
"We're sort of in that early post-pandemic lifestyle," she said. "People want to get out there. They're going to events more, they're going to sports games, that sort of thing."
"They're suddenly looking around and going, wow, the roads are really bad and feeling a lot more sense of personal ownership."
Other streets in northeastern Ontario include Algonquin Boulevard East in TImmins, Premier Road in North Bay. Thunder Bay also earns two spots on the list, while the others in the top 20 are rounded out with entries from Ottawa.