Some of Ottawa’s roads are being recognized provincially, but this is an honour the city would prefer to forego.
The Municipal Roads Coalition annually names the 20 worst roads in Ontario. In 2004, four of this city’s streets made the list – including Carling Avenue. Others were Limebank Road, St. Joseph Boulevard and Nicholls Island Road.
Concerned citizen were invited to cast their votes at www.worstroads.ca and provide comments as to why they thought their candidate should be deemed one of the worst roads in the province.
Voting for the 2005 competition has already begun and results will be released in November, says the coalition, which includes the Canadian Automobile Association, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and the Ontario Motor Coach, Trucking and Road Builders Associations.
More than 2,600 Ontarians have already cast votes for roads in 195 different cities, municipalities and townships.
Ottawa has received the second highest number of votes – behind Toronto – and Carling Avenue has been nominated again, along with Bronson Avenue and Bank Street.
With all of the other problems facing cities, maintaining roads is sometimes not high on the priority list.
Complaints should be made to elected officials, but many drivers probably suffer in silence.
People travel on run-down roads everyday and they probably yell a curse or two when their vehicle slams into a pothole and their morning coffee ends up on their lap. Too many seem to accept this as part of driving.
Repairing and resurfacing streets is not a glamorous issue, but it’s something that affects every resident.
It’s expensive to drive on bad roads as it takes a toll on vehicles, but more importantly, it can also be dangerous.
Ottawa seems to be addressing the issue, including current road construction on Booth Street and the redevelopment of downtown Bank Street.
But fixing parts of a street, such as patching potholes, will not solve the problem, when the whole road needs to be resurfaced.
The longer roads remain in poor condition, the more it costs to fix them.
According to the Ontario Road Builders Association, it costs between $500 and $1,000 per kilometer of lane if repairs are done in the first 10 years of the road’s life. The costs jump to $80,000 by year 12 and by year 15 it could cost as much as $250,000.
If roads aren’t repaired when problems arise, the bill to fix them is going to get bigger, and the next time taxpayers vote, it may be for a new mayor and councillors.
— Anna Piekarski