With files from Ally Paige

The voting for the CAA Worst Roads campaign are in, and the top two are from the West Central.

The campaign, which wrapped up last Tuesday, allowed pedestrians, motorists, cyclists, transit riders, and motorcyclists, to point out unsafe roads throughout Saskatchewan. 

CAA’s Worst Roads Roving Reporter, Angel Blair, noted that common safety concerns this year involved crumbling pavement, potholes, or lack of maintenance or repair. 

“Topping out in the number one and number two spot is Eston,” she stated. “Eston Saskatchewan Highway 44 and Saskatchewan 30 both made the list with potholes being the major problem. Then we head to Moose Jaw with Coteau Street. It was also cited as having major problems of potholes in at number three.” 

This year's list also showed a handful of repeat roads that have made the top ten in previous years. 

“Buchanan came in at number five and it was on our worst roads list back in 2022 at number five,” Blair elaborated. “So, exact same spot, another year, same problems. We're still seeing number six as Butte Street in Pilot Butte and at number seven we have Whitewood, Saskatchewan 9. 

The results of the campaign are shared with decision-makers at the provincial government as well as the municipality level. 

According to Blair, when discussing fixing roads, the key is proper planning and budgeting. 

“What we do is we give the list of worst roads to [the decision makers] and often what they tell us is it's not a surprise that these roads are being voted on or have safety concerns,” she explained. “What does tend to happen is the road gets talked about more. It might bring it to the forefront, it might even point out something that's not on one of these decision-makers or stakeholders' radars and that might be some extra utility work.” 

Here is the final tally.

  1. Saskatchewan 44, Eston, Saskatchewan - Potholes
  2. Saskatchewan 30, Eston, Saskatchewan - Potholes
  3. Coteau Street West, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan - Potholes
  4. Highway 13, Redvers, Saskatchewan - Potholes
  5. Saskatchewan 5, Buchanan, Saskatchewan - Poor road maintenance
  6. Butte Street, Pilot Butte, Saskatchewan - Potholes
  7. Saskatchewan 9, Whitewood, Saskatchewan - Potholes
  8. Saskatchewan 123, Petaigan / Ravendale / Pemmican Portage, Saskatchewan - Potholes
  9. Highway 9, Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan - Potholes
  10. Old Highway 35, White Fox, Saskatchewan - Potholes

As a landlocked province, Saskatchewan has almost 250,000 kilometres of roads, which is the highest length of road surface in comparison to any other province in Canada.  

Find Blair on CAA’s YouTube channel HERE, as she conducts interviews across the province with decision-makers and stakeholders.