Steeles & Bathurst Sts. Rank Among Worst Ontario Roads
 

We're number three!
It's not exactly the rallying cry you'd expect to hear from Toronto, but we've come in third on a list we don't exactly want to be on.

The Municipal Roads Coalition has released its list of the word roads in the province and a couple of old favourites are in the top 10.

Steeles Ave., long a contender for the most miserable street in Ontario, came in third in the survey.

And Bathurst St. managed to hit number 10. Both made the list last year and while Steeles has undergone some repairs between Bathurst and Yonge since then, the complaints continue to rage.

Both are prone to damage-causing potholes and ripped up asphalt.

New to the survey this year is Annette St., which the coalition complains features "unsealed cracks in the road that resemble crocodile skin patterns, and growing potholes on the outside lanes."

Sonia Turchyn knows the bumps and bruises of the road all too well, after it munched her car. "It had to have a total wheel alignment, a couple of flat tires and wheel balances at least two times a year," she explains of the potholes and uneven surfaces.

But the number one worst boulevard of broken rims belongs to a relatively obscure thoroughfare for those in the G.T.A. It's Cardwell Road in a place called the Township of Assiginack, which is located on the eastern portion of Manitoulin Island.

The avenue wins because of the sheer number of potholes, likely aggravated by the severe winters that the pavement has to endure.

The annual survey was taken by the Municipal Roads Coalition, an amalgamation of various concerned groups - like the C.A.A. and Road Builders - who want to make infrastructure a part of the election campaign.

Incumbent David Miller refused to comment on the results Thursday, insisting he hadn't seen the report. "I am in the middle of an election campaign," he complains. "You know full well I haven't seen it. Give me a fair chance."

But rival Jane Pitfield wasn't steering clear of the controversy.

"If we let the infrastructure continue, defer it and let it crumble, Toronto will follow lower and lower in its standings," she laments.

More than 5,000 people voted for the worst street across the province, and while it's hardly a scientific outcome, the results show there's a lot of disgruntled drivers out there.

Here's the list:

1. Cardwell Road (Township of Assiginack)
2. Limebank Road (Ottawa)
3. Steeles Avenue West (Toronto/York Region)
4. Western Road (London)
5. Lansing Avenue (Sudbury)
6. Algonquin Boulevard (Timmins)
7. Flamborough Concession 8 West (Hamilton)
8. Airport Road (Timmins)
9. Thompson Road (London)
10. Bathurst Street (Toronto)

11. Carling Avenue (Ottawa)
12. Carlton Street (St. Catharines)
13. Hespeler Road (Cambridge)
14. Princess Street (Kingston)
15. Fischer Hallman Road (Kitchener)
16. Belrose Road (Thunder Bay)
17. Huron Church Road (Windsor)
18. Upper Wentworth Street (Hamilton)
19. Annette Street (Toronto)
20. Notre Dame Avenue (Sudbury)

Source: City Pulse

Yeah I have to agree with this comment. Its on of those streets that make me glad to drive a stock car but damn it all when Im driving a lowered vehicle. Bye bye suspension and any type of Lip Kit that you have!
Why is it that there are certain streets that have been repaved over 1/2 a dozen times and not one time did they try to fit this patch of the road?

Calidonia from St. Clair to Eglinton is one of the worst in toronto and its been like this for years now even though they try to re-pave it many times i even got a dented rim on that road.

Carlton Street is absolutely brutal. I work in that neck of the woods, and do a lot of driving for work. Terrible stretch of road.