It's probably no surprise that the potholed and crumbling roads of Cranbrook had at least some votes in BCAA's Worst Roads Survey. It may also be a surprise that none of Cranbrook's roads actually made the top-10 list.
Mayor Wayne Stetski took a moment from Monday's council meeting to really emphasize that point.
"I'll probably say it twice," Stetski said. "But no streets in Cranbrook made the top 10 in BCAA's list."
Every year BCAA takes their list of members complaints and makes a top 10 list which it then releases. While Cranbrook was not in the top ten list, it was not spared complaints, as BCAA also releases a list of all the streets in B.C. that had complaints. Sure enough, Cranbrook makes that list.
"They've identified some roads that need some work," noted Wayne Staudt, the chief administrative officer for the city. "The good news is we have pretty much fixed all the suggestions that they had: 11th Avenue South, 30th Avenue North, 4th Street North, 11th Street South and Cobham Avenue West."
Those repairs include things like pothole and skim patching.
He said there are still some roads that need some major work, including extensive road rebuilds and work on drainage systems.
“What engineering has done here is try to identify when we will be getting to some of those major road improvements,” he said.
Staudt said major work on 11th Avenue is scheduled for 2015 to 2017, 30th Avenue North is 2018, and 4th Street North is 2015.
For instance, while the manager of Public Works listed that 11th Avenue South has had potholes patched, it is awaiting adequate funding for the waterline replacement and storm system upgrades before it can proceed on three sections between 2015 and 2017.
In the same line, 4th Street North is awaiting adequate funding for the water main, sewer main replacements and storm system upgrades.
“Then you look at some of the other ones, with exception of 6th Street North, which is being done right now, and Industrial Road 2, which is also being done in 2014,” he said, adding that the other ones are on a much longer waiting period — some right out to 2026.
“Some roads will just have to wait until our financing is available to address those other roads,” he said.
In the Worst Roads Survey, 11th Avenue South received 13 votes for potholes and crumbling pavement, while 30th Avenue North had seven votes and 4th Street North had four. A number of the other roads received two or a single vote, but the problem cited for every road was potholes and crumbling pavement.
And the winners are:
1. Silver Star Road, Vernon (Potholes/crumbling pavement)
2. Westside Road, 40 km north of West Kelowna (Potholes/crumbling pavement)
3. Cosens Bay Road, Coldstream, 14 km south of Vernon (Pedestrian/cycling safety)
4. Westside Road (again!), 17 km north of West Kelowna (Potholes/crumbling pavement)
5. George Massey Tunnel, Richmond (Traffic Congestion)
6. McKenzie Avenue, Victoria (Traffic Congestion)
7. Patullo Bridge, Surrey (Traffic Congestion)
8. Maple Crescent, Maple Ridge (Pedestrian/cycling safety)
9. Westside Road (yet again!), About 35 km west of Vernon (Potholes/crumbling pavement)
10. Island Hwy, Malahat (Traffic Congestion)