Hamilton’s Barton Street East is the worst road in Ontario for 2022, says CAA

After debuting on the provincial top 10 list in 2019, Barton Street East in Hamilton, Ont., is number one on the CAA’s Worst Roads list for 2022.

Potholes and severe alligator cracking in the pavement are characteristics that propelled the thoroughfare from fifth place in 2019 to third in 2021 and now top spot in 2022.

The roadside assistance agency’s annual list was compiled via nominations which included 123 municipal roads across Ontario with drivers accounting for the majority of the votes cast.

Cyclists and pedestrians put in a quarter of the votes.

“The results this year show us that Ontarians are relentless in using the campaign to advocate for roads they believe are in urgent need of repair, which is why we have seen Barton Street bubble up to the top spot,” said Teresa Di Felice, assistant vice president with CAA’s government and community relations.

Eglinton Avenue West in Toronto and Barker Street in Prince Edward County are second and third on the 2022 list.

Toronto has the most hideous roads in the top 10 of any Ontario municipality with four. That’s double what the city secured in 2021 when they only had two.

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Continuing LRT construction, slowing traffic and creating gridlock, has put both Eglinton Avenue West and Eglinton Avenue East on the list for a second year in a row.

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Lake Shore Boulevard East and Finch Avenue West are the other two T.O. roads getting recognition from voters.

1. Barton Street East, Hamilton
2. Eglinton Avenue West, Toronto
3. Barker Street, Prince Edward County
4. County Road 49, Prince Edward County
5. Carling Avenue, Ottawa
6. Eglinton Avenue East, Toronto
7. Lake Shore Boulevard East, Toronto
8. Finch Avenue West, Toronto
9. Bronson Avenue, Ottawa
10. Queen Street, Kingston

• Central— Laclie Street, Orillia
• Eastern— Barker Street, Prince Edward County
• Halton-Peel-York-Durham— Hurontario Street, Mississauga
• Niagara— Ontario Street, St. Catharines
• North— Algonquin Boulevard East, Timmins
• Southwest— Plank Road, Sarnia
• Western— Speedvale Avenue West, Guelph
• Ottawa— Carling Avenue, Ottawa

• Victoria Road in Prince Edward County
• Hunt Club Road and Innes Road in Ottawa
• Algonquin Boulevard West in Timmins.

Over 80 per cent of voters cited potholes as the number one irritant on municipal roads followed by poor maintenance (71 per cent) and no or poor cycling infrastructure (29 per cent).

The mission of CAA’s top 10 campaign works to give Ontarians a platform to put pressure on various levels of government to understand what roads are in urgent need of repair.

The top 10 list is verified by the Ontario Road Builders’ Association (ORBA) who concurred with the 2022 selections.

“Building and maintaining infrastructure is a critical part of Ontario’s long-term economic plan, and even more important to our economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Bryan
Hocking, CEO, ORBA.

“We must begin to build the necessary infrastructure today so we can be ready to meet the challenges of tomorrow.”