Search On For Worst Road in B.C.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012 @ 3:59 AM
Prince George, B.C.- Here we go again.
The BC Autuomobile Association ( BCAA) has launched it’s search for the worst road in the province.
You may recall, last year, Prince George won the prize with the most entries pointing the finger at a stretch of Ospika between Massey and Ferry.
Although not on the list for road rehab last year, at the end of the road rehab season, there was enough money left to make the necessary repairs.
As was the case last year, residents of B.C. have until the 23rd of this month to vote for the road in their community which they believe is the worst in the province. It doesn’t have to be all about potholes, the BCAA is looking for candidates that may be the worst because
· needs resurfacing
· is unsafe and contributes to frequent accidents
· is often heavily congested
· has inadequate road markings or signs
· is poorly designed for motorists, pedestrians and cyclists to share safely
So far, Prince George has one road in the top five, and it is Domano. Those who have voted, cite this stretch of road in front of College Heights Secondary because of repeated pothole repairs.
You can vote for the road you think is the worst by clicking here.
As was the case last year, municipalities will be advised of the final results, and will asked what they plan to do about making the necessary upgrades.
Final results will be released later this month.
Comments
15th and Foothills intersection? Or 15th from Ospika to Central? Or maybe just all of PG.
Tabor …. Domano ….. Ospika (the sothern part which they did not do last year) ….. First between Tabor and Ospika…. Kerry Street …. Rainbow ….
In fact, follow the city and school bus routes and any other routes that carry heavy truck traffic and are not the responsibility of Highways and one has a good chance of encountering potholes ….. in some cases enough to be in contention for worst road …..
It is a tough decision in this town … so many to select from
Don’t have to look far around here, they’re all crap. I submitted Foothills from Hart Highlands turn off to Chief Lake Rd, all of them are so bad it’s hard to pick.
I think that all those Councillors who ran with a promise to deal with the road situation ran under false pretense, especially those who were on Council before and should have known that they had no clue on how they would accomplish their objective.
It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that tackling the road problem legacy left for us by past Councils is a difficutl task which might actually take a rocket scientist to figure out.
I see no action on the issue people! Do the work you were elected to do!!
Simon Fraser hill in front of College Heights elementary, and what about the Cowart Road.
Tyner to Ospika, I’ve got the “road dance” down but I’ve almost lost an axel a few times! Infact I just replaces a few major parts in my car. Dang these roads!
I predict Prince George is going to take the trophy again! What a wonderful tradition we are establishing! Something to be REALLY proud of! Not only that, I that see some of the worst potholes have not even been visited yet even once this year by the (-fill it in and hit it with the back of the shovel-) crew, which uses pre 1980s technology inspite of modern pothole patching equipment machinery being available for a couple of decades already!
How did the City ever embrace automated garbage pickup technology instead of still allowing garbage bags in front of the curb?
Well crime capital of Canada 2 years in a row so why not the worst roads in B.C. again.
Haven’t seen any City workers with a tamping tool out yet (shovel) but seen YRB the other day near hwy 16/97 intersection with their tamping tool!
Massey and whatever it turns into from Ospika to Parkwood is nasty too.
Right … Massey … forgot all about that.
That is an interesting one. The potholes are found most frequently where the road surface is stresses from the action of the tires. Massey is deteriorating mostly in the curves through sideways forces, just as roads are deteriorating frequently at intersections where road surfaces are stressed from braking forces.
Hey Noway the city has been out numerous times this year patching potholes but they patch at night when traffic is less.
And while there are many bad roads here in town some can be blamed on the city but the vast majority can be blamed on the weather . Water seeps into the pavement collects in air pockets freeze and expand breaking up the pavement and in combination with heavy traffic flow you get a pothole developing.
Costs of resurfacing and repaying roads is very expensive to resurface 2.5 km of road costs just over $600,000 to dig up and totally replace that same road the cost shoots up to $1,110,000 so when you bitch at why the city ain’t fixing the roads with a set budget road repairs don’t go very far.
And while we do have bad roads I’ve seen far worse roads in Scamloops and Ft St John.
What do they call a smart car in Prince George?
Pothole filler!
Dearth! Resurfacing is a band aid that doesn’t last.
“Water seeps into the pavement collects in air pockets freeze and expand breaking up the pavement and in combination with heavy traffic flow you get a pothole developing.”
You forgot the heat/cooling cycle causes cracks. There used to be a crew that would fill those cracks. Haven’t seen them in awhile.
The problem Dearth is “they” know they need to budget 7 mill to maintain what we have but only budget half of that. You take car of that car it will last you a long time. You neglect it and you will have to replace it. Our roads are neglected and have to be replaced.
Big problem it seems to me is grinding off the top layer then new over old. Just does not seem to stick then add water, freezing between the layers and up it comes. Maybe totaly new repaving might be cheaper in the long run.
So sick of the lame ass excuse about freeze-thaw being the problem. BS politicians and idiot city managers, engineers and contractors are the problem! Calgary has brutal winters with warming chinooks tossed in from time to time…so they get more freeze/thaw than anywhere but the roads are beautiful all over the city. Ditto Edmonton.
The only problem in PG is incestuous relationships between the old boys club in City Hall and the contractors that take millions out of your pockets to do the same thing year in and year out without ever addressing the real problem.
“so when you bitch at why the city ain’t fixing the roads with a set budget road repairs don’t go very far.”
The problem, IMO, is that the City spends money on all sorts of things, and neglects the roads. I think they need to quit with stuff like: PAC, winter games, Dike, and a $50,000.00 electric car, to name a few, and start maintaining our crumbling infrastructure. Our taxes go up up up, and the roads get worse. I think many would stop bitching about it if they thought they were getting good value for their tax dollars.
Seems to me that gas taxes (or a portion thereof) are supposed to be used for road upkeep. Is that federal, provincial or municipal roads? High gas prices, higher taxes, more money for road repairs? Hmmmm?
Dearth: potholes grow more when the water in them is liguid. When a tire goes over the water in a hole its like an explosion, throwing out anything that was loosened previously and fracturing other bits that are weaker, which in turn get thrown out with the next hit. The freezing of course expands any water filled crevices but its only when it thaws that it moves. The should have started patching in February when the first thawing commenced. that’s when I first noticed them growing.
Darn few crews out at night too.
I think the worst road in BC is the one to Telegraph Creek.
Oops … I forgot all about Domano Blvd. at St. Lawrence….. silly me…. ;-)
Totally agree with the thinking about the freeze thaw excuse, ExPat-PGRes.
I think there is also some truth about the incestuous relationship in a small town with limited contractors available.
Of course, we are not allowed to comment about whether the City has staff qualified to do the job. Not being there to observe, I could not comment on it.
However, what I can comment on is that the results are not acceptable. The work produuct not being perfect is one thing, but waht we are getting is far from that below average standard. Something is definitely wrong somewhere.
They need some expert help and they should not be ashamed of that!!
Get the help, improve the work, show us what you can do if you set your mind to it, and make us proud to live in PG. We did not need Winter Gamnes to make us proud.
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