Ormstown has eighth-worst road in province

The Chateauguay River Road in Ormstown occupies the eighth spot on the list published on June 2 by CAA-Quebec containing the worst roads in the province, a process for which the enterprise registered nearly 5,000 votes from motorists on the piresroutes-caaquebec.com website.

« We are very conscious of the state of the Chateauguay River Road, » said City of Ormstown director general Daniel Theroux of the poll. « Moreover, a study will be started this summer in order to establish the best method of intervening to carry out works on this section of road. These works should be completed during the 2016-17 fiscal exercise. »

He added that the bad state of the Chateauguay River roadway is attributable to the large volume of trucks that circulate on it. « More and more agricultural machinery is also using that route. At the beginning, that road was not conceived for receiving so many heavy vehicles. But we are very conscious of the problem,»  he indicated.

The citizens speak

The voting period to elect the worst roads in the province extended over four weeks. At the end of that period, La Traverse Road, which connects Lac Beauport to St. Brigitte-de-Laval, left with the title of the worst road in Quebec.

« By launching this campaign, we wanted to give a voice to the citizens, knowing at which point the condition of the infrastructures is crucial for daily displacements, » said Sophie Gagnon, vice-president of communications and public affairs at CAA-Quebec. « The response obtained thus clearly reminds us of the preoccupation of the taxpayers regarding the upkeep of the roads network. »

Tool for the citizens

She added that this tool is an additional platform to help the citizens in their initiatives seeking to improve the general state of the roads network.

The other 10 routes that complete the list find themselves as much on the provincial network as on the municipal one. « To see such diversity demonstrates the volume of the task in order to get everything back in good condition, » Gagnon confided. « And since it's also a road safety stake, we are very happy with the public's response to this first edition of the survey. »

Following this evaluation from the population, CAA-Quebec notified the authorities responsible for the roads and sections inscribed on the list and intends to follow their evolution through. « During the last 10 years, 90% of the routes designated through the Worst Roads offensive at our neighbours in Ontario have been repaired, or are in the process of being fixed, » she concluded.