What are the worst roads in Windsor? CAA wants to know

The Canadian Automobile Association wants residents to nominate the worst roads in Windsor, as the voting has started for the automobile association's Worst Roads campaign.

• Pothole season arrives in Windsor, city says 'We are well aware it's bad out there'

• Windsor's worst potholes, according to you

The winners last year were Tecumseh Road East, Wyandotte Street East, Seminole Street and Ouellette Avenue.

Spokesperson for CAA, Raymond Chan, said the campaign does more than just point out the bad spots. 

"It's really to bring more awareness to government, it is continuing our call for more permanent and dedicated funding for infrastructure improvements," he said. "We really want to see the government step up."

Chan said with a provincial and municipal election taking place this fall he wants to make sure road improvements are on everyone's mind going into budget season.

City of Windsor engineer, Mark Winterton said the results aren't "really a surprise."

"We do an objective evaluation of our roads so we have a pretty good idea of every segment of every road in the City of Windsor and how it is rated and what it needs to be rehabilitated," he said.

Winterton said the amount of money the city would need to spend to repair deficient roads would be about $360 million. The city gets about $10 million a year to rehabilitate roads, but spends about $25 million a year.

"Obviously it's a long haul to get the entire network up to speed," Winterton said.

City officials are asking the public to call 311 when they notice potholes around the city. Five crews are working around the clock to make the roads safe.

Staff can fill a few dozen potholes a day. The city recently just held a pothole blitz to get rid of some of the worst spots.

Service centres abuzz

There are some in the city that are benefiting from the potholes. MSJ Automotive Services has been fixing cars who have been damaged by the concrete craters.

"There seems to be an increase in tire damage and front end components that have gone bad recently with all the potholes that are visible now," said Chris Langlois, owner of the shop.

"We try to take care of them as reasonably as possible and as quick as possible and get them back out on the road."

Langlois said he would nominate Ypres Avenue as one of the worst roads in the city.

The voting starts Tuesday and will end April 15, while the list of roads will be revealed later in May.