THUNDER BAY – A Thunder Bay street is featured on a newly-released list of the worst roads in the region, though the dubious distinction has been questioned by some residents and city staff.
Tokio Street was the only Thunder Bay roadway to make the cut, placing at number five on CAA North & East Ontario’s Top 10 Worst Roads list for 2021.
The annual ranking is based on votes from the public and designed to “spark a dialogue with governments” by drawing attention to poorly maintained roadways, says the CAA.
Tokio runs parallel to John Street in two short sections that are divided by Highway 17 and a number of other intervening streets.
For Kayla Dixon, the city’s director of engineering and operations, the designation was a head-scratcher.
“I certainly would not consider this the worst road in Thunder Bay,” she said.
Often, major roads or those in particularly bad shape will make the list, she said. Tokio Street fits neither of those criteria.
Much of Tokio east of the expressway was recently repaved, she said, while the remaining sections of the street aren’t in bad enough shape to be considered a priority for resurfacing under the city’s pavement management system.
Every five years, a consultant performs a review that involves driving every city street, documenting conditions, and assigning a smoothness rating, she said.
The section of Tokio Street west of the expressway received a 6.9 out of 10 in the most recent review.
“I don’t think it’s the worst in Thunder Bay, but it’s bad,” said one woman who lives along a stretch of Tokio just west of Algonquin Avenue.
Some particularly bad potholes were filled within the last couple of weeks, she said, though it’s a solution that never seems to last.
Some of those potholes had been nearly a foot deep, she said.
The street can wreak havoc on vehicles’ suspension, said another neighbourhood resident.
Neither had been aware of the CAA vote.
Potholes, cracks, crumbling shoulders, and poor road maintenance cost Canadian vehicle owners $3 billion a year, the CAA says.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for additional details on the list.
