Pothole plague

Miranda Monahan

In 2017, four roads in the Windsor-area made the Canadian Automobile Association’s list of worst roads in Ontario.

Each year, CAA holds a contest where people can vote on the roads they think are the worst in Ontario. This year’s contest opened on March 20.

“While no roads in Windsor have been on the top 10 list, a number of Windsor-area roads have been on the South West Regional list: portions of Tecumseh Road in Tecumseh and in East Windsor, Seminole Street in Windsor, and Ouellette Avenue in Windsor,” said Raymond Chan, a government relations specialist for CAA.

Potholes are not just bad to look at, they can do costly damage to vehicles.

For one vehicle, a pothole caused $1,525 worth of damage. One bounce resulted in a repair bill for a left front control arm (part of the suspension) costing $400, a lower ball joint (part of the suspension) costing $375, a four wheel alignment and replacement costing $150, tire and rim replacement costing $600, according to Chan.

According to Andrew Dowie, the executive initiatives coordinator for the City of Windsor, Windsor’s climate is the main reason for potholes.

“The cause of the potholes is really our weather. We have freezing and thawing. Our weather is typically warmer than other places,” said Dowie.

Fixing Windsor’s roads comes with a large price tag, “we have a budget of $10 million for road work,” said Dowie.

“We have a value of approximately $360 million of deficient roads that are in need of rehabilitation based on present day conditions, this figure is destined to grow as roads age,” said Dowie.

To decide which roads need to be repaired first, inspectors drive around and grade roads using a technical grading system. The roads with a high grade get repaired first and roads with a lower grade get repaired last. Often the worst roads are residential roads, but main roads are usually repaired first, according to Dowie.

Planned road repairs this year include infrastructure repair on roads like Cabana and Grand Marais.

In regards to transit, buses have set routes and often do not change the route due to bad roads. No damage to buses has been reported this year, according to Dowie.

CAA’s 2018 worst roads contest is set to close on April 15. Voting can be done online at caaworstroads.com.