All the votes are in and the main road through Timmins is the worst in the north.
The CAA has released the confirmed results of its 2022 Worst Roads Campaign.
Algonquin Boulevard East in Timmins came out on the top in the north, with Algonquin Boulevard West being the sixth-worst road in the region.
The annual campaign allows people to nominate the worst roads, which are then voted on. CAA says it's a way for people to make roads safer by identifying what roadway improvements are important to the people.
The top reasons the CAA said people voted for a road were potholes (80 per cent), poor road maintenance (71 per cent) and no or poor cycling infrastructure (29 per cent).
SEE: $27.9-million contract for Algonquin roadwork moving ahead
“We know the campaign works. People vote in the annual CAA Worst Roads Campaign because it gives Ontarians a platform to continue putting pressure on various levels of government to understand what roads they believe are in urgent need of repair,” said Jeff Walker, CAA North and East Ontario president and CAO.
“The Worst Roads campaign demonstrates that decision-makers attention to the results, which has prompted municipal officials to move up infrastructure projects in their communities.”
This year, roads in 123 municipalities in Ontario were nominated. Drivers made the most votes in the campaign, with cyclists and pedestrians accounting for about a quarter of the votes, said CAA.
“This year’s Worst Roads campaign once again solidified the fact that although much work has been done across the province to maintain and repair Ontario’s roads, greater investment is needed to tackle the staggering municipal infrastructure deficit in Ontario,” said Bryan Hocking, the CEO of the Ontario Road Builders' Association (ORBA), which verifies the results of the campaign.
“Building and maintaining infrastructure is a critical part of Ontario’s long-term economic plan, and even more important to our economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. We must begin to build the necessary infrastructure today so we can be ready to meet the challenges of tomorrow.”
The north region includes the districts of Algoma, Cochrane, Kenora, Manitoulin, Nipissing, Parry Sound and more. The top worst roads in the campaign are:
- Algonquin Boulevard East, Timmins
- Lansing Avenue, Greater Sudbury
- Arthur Street West, Thunder Bay
- Paris Street, Greater Sudbury
- Fielding Road, Greater Sudbury
- Algonquin Boulevard West, Timmins
- Bancroft Drive, Greater Sudbury
- Premier Road, North Bay
- Memorial Avenue, Thunder Bay
- Barry Down Road, Greater Sudbury
In Timmins, Algonquin Boulevard is part of the Connecting Link.
This year, the City of Timmins is fully reconstructing the road from Theriault Boulevard to Mountjoy Street. Work is expected to start this week, which is two months later than when construction started on last year's segment.
Ontario included $74 million in the 2022 budget to help the city cover the cost of reconstructing the Connecting Link. The provincial budget has not been approved yet.
