The worst roads in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area
Of Ontario’s Top 10 Worst Roads for 2023, seven are in the GTHA. Here’s where they’re located.
The list of Ontario’s Top 10 Worst Roads is out, and seven of them are located in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. The GTHA even lays claim to the No. 1 spot.
For the second year in a row, Hamilton’s Barton St. E. has been named CAA Worst Road for 2023. It “earned” this unenviable distinction because of persistent issues with potholes and alligator cracking — a common type of distress in asphalt paving.
Voted on by the general public, CAA’s annual Worst Roads campaign has been running since 2003. It ultimately aims to shine a spotlight on where urgent work needs to be done.
"The 2023 CAA Worst Roads campaign provides a valuable snapshot of the roads that the public perceives as pain points," said Teresa Di Felice, assistant vice president for CAA South Central Ontario, via a press release.
"For 20 years, this campaign has served as a powerful advocacy tool, initiating dialogues with decision-makers and driving positive change for safer roads across Ontario."
We mapped the GTHA entries on the 2023 list. Check the map accompanying this article to find out where they’re located, and read on for more info.
What are Ontario’s worst roads?
Here’s the list for 2023:
- Barton St. E., Hamilton
- Eglinton Ave. W., Toronto
- County Rd. 49, Prince Edward
- Carling Ave., Ottawa
- Finch Ave. W., Toronto
- Laclie St., Orillia
- Steeles Ave. E., Toronto
- Aberdeen Ave., Hamilton
- Lake Shore Blvd. E., Toronto
- Hurontario St., Mississauga
As you can see, seven of the 10 worst roads are located in the GTHA: four in Toronto, two in Hamilton, and one in Mississauga.
This shouldn’t be surprising considering these are three of the five most populous cities in the province — so both in terms of number of potential voters, and number of cars on the road causing wear and tear, they become likely candidates for inclusion.
Have any of 2023’s worst GTHA roads appeared on the list before?
Yes. As we said above, Barton topped the list for the second year in a row. But that’s not the only repeat appearance.
Eglinton Ave. W., Lake Shore Blvd. E., and Finch Ave. W. all appeared on the 2022 list as well.
The Worst Roads site also includes a record of previous winners dating all the way back to the beginning of the program. On it, we can see that Steeles Ave. and Steeles Ave. W. have topped the list four times combined, the last time in 2009. Now apparently is Steeles Ave. E.’s time to … well, the opposite of shine.
Along with Steeles Ave. E., both Hamilton’s Aberdeen Ave. and Mississauga’s Hurontario St. are both new to the list.
Have any GTHA entries from previous years vacated the list?
Also yes. According to info released alongside the 2023 list, many of the roads included have undergone or are undergoing significant improvements. And as such you wouldn’t expect any one entry to last forever. As a recent example, Eglinton Ave. E. was included on the 2022 list, and didn’t make it for 2023.
More famously, however, Toronto’s Dufferin St. was named worst road in Ontario three straight times between 2012 and 2014, but hasn’t been seen on the list since 2019.
Similarly, Hamilton’s Burlington St. E. topped the list twice in 2017 and 2018, and also dropped off after 2019. According to a page featuring Worst Roads campaign success stories, the street had $3.3 million allocated for resurfacing, particularly on the lower part of the street.
Code and markup by Kyle Duncan. ©Torontoverse, 2023