Saskatchewan residents had a month to nominate and vote for the worst roads on which they recently travelled, and after tallying the votes, CAA Saskatchewan has released its official top 10 worst streets list.
Coming in at No. 1 is Mayfair Crescent in Regina, followed by Highway 47 near Springside, Highway 9 near Hudson Bay, Highway 155 near La Loche, Highway 5 near Buchanan, and Circle Drive in Saskatoon.
Moose Jaw’s Fourth Avenue Southwest (Thunderbird Viaduct) Bridge took seventh place, followed by Grant Drive in Regina, Ingersoll Crescent in Regina and Ninth Avenue Southwest in Moose Jaw.
Ninth Avenue Southwest placed 10th during CAA’s 2018 Top 10 Worst Roads Campaign.
CAA’s 2022 Worst Roads campaign took place from April 6 to 30. Saskatchewan road users, including motorists, cyclists, pedestrians, runners, transit users, and motorcyclists were invited to nominate and vote for the worst, most unsafe highways and municipal or residential roads.
Voting took place online at caask.ca/worstroads with one vote per road per email every 24 hours. Road users could vote as more than one type of road user. Photos of the worst roads were also accepted.
Since the start of this year’s campaign, Dale Edward Johnson, CAA’s Worst Roads roving reporter, interviewed road users from across Saskatchewan about previously nominated worst roads.
Johnson also provided status updates when reporting from worst, unsafe roads, including Regina’s Grant Drive and Eighth Avenue North, Highway 33 near Kronau, Highway 9 near Canora, Highway 3 near Hudson Bay, Saskatoon’s 20th Street West and 52nd Street, and Highway 9, Hudson Bay.
Johnson’s stand-up reports and streeter interviews can be viewed on CAA Saskatchewan’s YouTube Channel.
The major road issues reported during the 2022 campaign included potholes, unpaved roads, poor road maintenance, poor road signs or road markings, and traffic congestion, said Christine Niemczyk, CAA director of communications Saskatchewan. The focus of this year’s campaign was to define the worst roads as unsafe roads for all types of road users.
Several factors can cause deterioration, such as weather conditions, age of the roads, heavy traffic, and lack of maintenance, she continued. In cold climates like Saskatchewan, the freeze-thaw cycle plays a key role in creating potholes — a problem that occurs when temperatures regularly go above and below the freezing point.
“When rain or snow seeps through cracks and openings in the pavement, it freezes and expands, causing the pavement to heave upward. Then as temperatures rise, the ground underneath the pavement returns to its normal level, leaving a cavity or hole which breaks apart with continued use of vehicles driving over the fractured pavement,” Niemczyk said.
Repair bills resulting from unsafe roads can be costly for owners of vehicles, motorcycles, and bicycles, she noted.
According to CAA’s Cost of Poor Roads in Canada Study, the average Canadian driver pays an extra $126 per year, which over 10 years of a car’s lifespan adds up to around $1,260.
In Saskatchewan, the average annual cost per driver is $97 and totals just under $1,000 over 10 years. Repairing roads before they can deteriorate saves money for all road users and governments.
Saskatchewan is a landlocked province and has almost 230,000 km of roads, the highest length of road surface compared to any other province, said Niemczyk. These roads are used regularly for business and leisure road travel, so road users pay the price when these roads deteriorate.
“CAA Worst Roads is an online engagement campaign aimed at drawing attention to our province’s worst, unsafe roads. The 2022 top 10 roads worst roads list will be distributed to government and business leaders in hopes of sparking conversation and action,” she added. “Working towards safer roads for all road users is a priority for CAA Saskatchewan.”
