BCAA is inviting the public to nominate a road in British Columbia that is in most need of repair or redesign.
The association will verify the nominations, publish the top 10, and share the results with government to encourage improvements.
For the survey, “worst road” is defined as any section of paved infrastructure that has poor road signs or traffic markings, damaging potholes or crumbling pavement, poorly timed traffic lights or is regularly extremely congested.
Roads that are not well-designed for pedestrians and cyclists are also eligible for nomination.
BCAA receives about 50,000 calls from across the province every year for tire-related problems alone, but Ken Cousin, BCAA’s associate vice-president of Road Assist, said inadequate roads are problematic in many ways.
“Roads that are deteriorating, inadequately maintained or poorly designed affect the pocketbook, stress level and more importantly— personal safety of motorists, cyclists and pedestrians,” Cousin said in a release. “We encourage British Columbians to take five minutes to vote and draw attention to deteriorating, unsafe or inefficient roads in their community.”
Sean Kobus, 21, said the area around 59th Street in Vancouver’s Marpole neighbourhood could use some upgrades to the road where potholes are filled poorly.
“I’m all down for filling in potholes, but you have to do it properly…I noticed it a lot on the side streets.”
Physical road conditions are only one aspect of the problems affecting transportation in British Columbia.
Vancouver was named the most congested city in Canada according to a 2013 survey by GPS manufacturer Tom Tom and placed second worst in North America after famously-gridlocked Los Angeles.
Boulevard South in Prince George was voted the worst road in 2011 and Westside Road in Kelowna topped the list last year, while Vancouver’s Station Street came third. Some improvements were made to the title-winning roads after the surveys.
Vote for your choice of worst road at bcaa.com/worstroads.
