Your vote in the B.C. Automobile Association鈥檚 annual Worst Roads survey might actually result in repairs to that road you hate.
This is the fourth year for the survey, which can be accessed online at bcaa.com/worstroads or on the BCAA Facebook site and continues through to May 26.
The Okanagan鈥檚 Westside Road, which topped the list for the last two years, has recently received $6.5 million in improvements 鈥� so the Ministry of Transportation appears to be paying some attention to the survey.
Ken Cousin, BCAA鈥檚 associate vice-president of Road Assist, said he received a letter about the survey from Transportation Minister Todd Stone in February.
鈥淗e indicated in his letter that they compared our Worst Road votes to their planning and there was a lot of alignment between their planning and some of our results,鈥� said Cousin.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e paying attention,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 making a difference. It鈥檚 a great opportunity for people to get their voices heard.鈥�
Twisty Westside Road, which winds along the west side of Lake Okanagan from West Kelowna to north of Vernon for 65 kilometres, is a prime example of a bad road. It received realignment, paving and slow-moving vehicle pullouts.
But roads that can be put on the list 鈥� including perennial culprit Massey Tunnel 鈥� can have anything from damaging potholes or crumbling pavement to heavy congestion and inadequate road markings or signs.
It doesn鈥檛 even technically have to be for motor vehicles. Last year a bikeway, the B.C. Parkway Urban Trail for bikes and pedestrians, cracked the top 10 for the first time 鈥� finishing second behind Westside Road.
