Manitobans coming through loud and clear on province’s worst roads

When it comes to nominating Manitoba’s worst roads people are making their voices heard.

The voting period for the undesirable distinction came to a close Wednesday and officials with CAA say they saw more submissions for the competition than ever before. 

“We’ve seen a record number of nominations this year, and a number of new municipalities participate that haven’t traditionally took part, meaning there is a lot of appetite for our campaign,” said Ewald Friesen, the manager of government and community relations for CAA Manitoba.

“It’s important to note our campaign is not about shaming or blaming the government,” said Friesen.

“What it is, is a reaction to some data showing 96 per cent of Manitobans are concerned with the state of our roads. 84 per cent of them think roads aren’t being repaired in a timely fashion and 61 per cent think the roads are getting worse.” 

The contents, aimed at giving members of the public a place to voice their frustration around roads, instead of getting mad at their “co-worker, spouse or mechanic.” 

In 2023, Highway 307 in the Whiteshell was voted worst road and last year, the worst road was in Brandon, with the second and third place roads, all outside Winnipeg. Friesen says that’s a sign more people across the province are getting interested. 

“I don’t think that this says everything is fine in the city of Winnipeg, but what it says is that there’s a sense of our campaign working and other cities are clueing in,” he said.

“In rural parts of the province, we know people depend on their roads in ways that may not be similar in urban centers, for commerce and even for safety.” 

Although voting for the campaign is officially closed, Ewald says it will be a few weeks until the worst road selection is announced, saying road infrastructure is an affordability issue, at a time when “affordability is on everyone’s minds.”

“At a time when Canadians are hanging on to their cars longer than they ever have, worst roads are really affecting our pocket book, so we know that with the help of Manitoba this helps roads get fixed,” he said.