Eglinton Avenue West was named the second worst road in the province of Ontario, the Canadian Automotive Association (CAA) announced in its annual ranking released Tuesday.
The results showed that nearly half of the top 10 Worst Roads in Ontario were in Toronto, including:
- Eglinton Avenue West
- Finch Avenue West
- Steeles Avenue East, and
- Lakeshore Boulevard East.
The CAA said it invited road users in Ontario to vote for the worst roads which, in the public’s opinion, are in need of improvement.
Barton Street East in Hamilton was named the worst road for the second consecutive year. Eglinton West came in second for the second year back-to-back.
“Eglinton is a mess,” real estate agent Bonnie Belfer, who’s been living along the Eglinton Avenue West, told Humber News.
“Today is not backed up, and you never know,” she said.
“You have to plan your day around the fact that you may run on your street 20 minutes to get onto your driveway.”
Teresa Di Felice, CAA South Central Ontario vice-president of government and community relations, told Humber News that the way Eglinton West has been designed, a failure to make new city changes, and the major transit construction in the area have all helped make it the second worst road in the Ontario.
“Eglinton is an exceptionally long street; there’s the 19 km Crosstown LRT construction that has been going on for 10 years,” she said.
“Likely due to the construction, upgrades have not been made to the streets,” Di Felice said. “There’s been construction, there’ve been a lot of heavy trucks, there’s been a lot of digging going on.”
She said she was hopeful that Toronto will have a better Eglinton Avenue as LRT construction comes to an end.
Belfer said it’s been an ongoing struggle.
“My specific street has been tortured for 12 years, on and off,” Belfer said.
Di Felice said the failure to enact a proposed project called EglintonTOday, which was aimed at making the street safer and more attractive, has also contributed to the situation.
EglintonTOday proposed adding bike lanes, but the plan was delayed for a year as extra consultation was needed, she said.
The poor condition of Eglinton has also affected property prices, Belfer said.
“There was one house, that was absolutely stunning, was posted 10 days, and they pulled it off the market.” Belfer said. “Because they cannot get onto our street, which is very close to the Elland Road to look at the show.”
People were depressed and wanted to file a lawsuit, but it didn’t work out because “you cannot sue the city,” she said.
“There was absolutely nobody to talk to,” she said.
A spokesperson for the City of Toronto said most Toronto roads included on the list were sites of major transit and critical infrastructure work.