This stretch of Baldoon Road north of Our Lady of Fatima School was cited among the worst in the region according to the Canadian Automobile Association’s worst roads survey. The road is set for replacement this year.
The crumbling, potholed filled section of Baldoon Road between Pioneer Line and Our Lady of Fatima School has been selected the second worst road in this part of Ontario in the annual Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) Worst Roads online survey.
For the first time this year the CAA, in addition to noting Ontario’s worst roads, which can be found here, https://www.caaworstroads.com/home/index/9
added regional “winners.”
Baldoon finished second behind Tecumseh Road East in Windsor and just above Waterworks Road and Plank Road in Sarnia and Wyandotte St. East in Windsor.
The local region included Windsor/Essex, Chatham-Kent and Sarnia Lambton.
Caroline Crech, the CAA’s government relations representative, said more than 16,000 online votes were cast in less than one month in the contest which concluded April 17.
“We had a 26 per cent increase in votes this year and more than 1,000 roads were nominated,” she said. “It’s a real indication to us that infrastructure is extremely important to Ontarians.”
Roads were nominated in four categories – potholes, traffic congestion, poor traffic signals and unclear road signs. Baldoon was nominated in the pothole category.
Once the contest closed, members of the Ontario Road Builders Association visited the locations to determine if the complaints are valid.
Crech said the purpose of the contest is to nudge government officials to pay more attention to road repairs.
“We know it’s not easy and that municipalities face a lot of downloading costs,” she said. “This is just a reminder that roads are vital and deserve due consideration when budgets are done.”
She said the move to regional as well as provincial rankings is a signal that problems exist throughout the province.
“Just because a local road doesn’t receive the traffic of something, say, in Toronto, that doesn’t mean it isn’t important.”
Crech said often the publicity means roads on the list are fixed sooner rather than later.
“For years Dufferin Street in Toronto was on the list but now that it was fixed, it didn’t get any votes,” she said.
“No one hates potholes more than I do,” says Thomas Kelly, Chatham-Kent’s manager of infrastructure and engineering services. “I think I get to hear about every single one of them.”
Kelly, commenting on the Canadian Automobile Association’s annual worst roads list, said a survey isn’t necessary for him to know what roads need repair.
“We rate every single road in the municipality each year,” he said. “The issue isn’t knowing where the issues are, the issue is that we’re in a 22 per cent deficit position on maintenance funding.”
Baldoon Road is on the list for repair this year.
Kelly said the municipality needs $13.2 million per year for road maintenance but only budgets $10.6.
“It’s a long-standing problem and we are making progress but we’re not there yet.”
He said the municipality has a 10-year plan to close the gap and in the meantime has a comprehensive rating system designed to make sure the roads that need the work most, receive it.
“We rate not only the condition of the road but also its traffic volume,” he said. “The idea is to catch the road before it reaches the tipping point of deterioration. When we can do that we get the best value for our repair budget. If we “lose” a road, the cost can go up by 400 per cent.”
