Crunch time for Ontario Worst Roads voting

TORONTO , Sept. 24 /CNW/ - With less than one week to go in the Worst Roads campaign the CAA and Ontario Road Builder's Association are urging motorists, cyclists, pedestrians and transit users to cast their ballot for the worst road in their community.

So far over 7,000 people have chosen to vote for their worst road in the province and over 1,300 are fans of the Worst Roads campaign on Facebook.

"We're excited to see so many people come out to support the campaign in 2009, but we still would like to see more people vote and they still have until the end of September to do so. This truly shows infrastructure spending, particularly on roads, highways and bridges is an important subject no matter what community you are from," said Faye Lyons , spokesperson for CAA South Central Ontario.

Ontarians started voting for the worst road or bridge in their community on August 12 . The campaign runs until September 30, 2009 . Ballots can be cast at CAA travel stores, CAA Car Care Centres, in select CAA-approved garages and online at www.caasco.com/worstroads.

You can also find us on Facebook and become a fan of CAA Worst Roads or attend one of our FREE car care seminars to get your vehicle ready for the winter. For details and registration go to our website or call 1-877-588-2088.

"The politicians are listening. We launched our campaign on Steeles Ave. which once again is looking to lead the top 20 this year followed closely by Ritson Rd. in Oshawa. But the good news is the City of Toronto plans on resurfacing the entire stretch of Steeles Ave. with work beginning this fall. We applaud this news and we would like to thank the City of Toronto , the federal government and the province for listening to our voters."

To date, over 90 per cent of the roads that have made the Top 20 list have been or are in the process of being fixed. The campaign has also helped generate $ 400 million for infrastructure from the province and $ 1.9 billion from the federal government.

With less than a week to go the roads leading the pack include Steeles Ave., Ritson Road (Oshawa), Burlington Street (Hamilton), Palmer Rd. (Belleville), Finch Ave. ( Toronto ), Dufferin St. ( Toronto ), Victoria Park Ave. ( Toronto ), Wharncliffe Rd. ( London ), St. Clair Ave . ( Toronto ), Brock St. (Kingston), Kingston Rd. ( Toronto ), Vermillion Lake Rd. (Sudbury), Lawrence Ave . ( Toronto ), Denistoun St. (Welland), Highway 401 (Ontario), Wavell St. ( London ), Riverside Dr. ( Ottawa ), Woodward Ave. (Hamilton), Regent St. (Sudbury) and Yonge St. ( Toronto ).

On average the cost of time delays, vehicle operating costs, accidents, vehicle emissions, vehicle repairs, commuting delays, work compensation, and health care costs associated with excess congestion and hitting a pothole amounted to as much as $3,000 per person each year (based on statistics from Metrolinx for a person living in the GTA).

CAA South Central Ontario, CAA Niagara and CAA North and East are not-for-profit auto clubs offering insurance, travel and roadside services. There are more than 1.8 million CAA members in Ontario and 5 million members in Canada .

For further information: Media Contact: Edyta Zdancewicz, Media and PR Specialist, 60 Commerce Valley Drive East, Thornhill, ON, L3T 7P9, [email protected], Office: [phone], Cell: [phone]