Motorists asked to nominate Alberta’s worst road
By Tim Kalinowski on May 7, 2021.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDtkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com The Alberta Roadbuilders and Heavy Construction Association has launched a province-wide contest to nominate Alberta’s Worst Road.The contest encourages drivers to safely post pictures of the most notorious roads in their part of the province to social media with the #AlbertaFixOurRoads hashtag along with a location and a few words about why they should be crowned Alberta’s Worst Road.
People should be free to get creative with their photos, says the association’s CEO Ron Glen, and the use of humour is always welcome to express why they believe their local road is the hands down winner, or loser, in this instance.
“We thought we would have a little fun with this, and give people an opportunity to use their creative skills to find some of the worst offending egregious potholes, frost (damage), rutting, and everything else, to help us put that forward to remind government that roads are important to Albertans,” Glen confirms.
While admitting his members have a vested interest in trying to encourage more government investment in roads, Glen says the “Alberta’s Worst Road” contest also goes far beyond that.
“Over the last decade about 15.5 per cent of Alberta’s highway network has fallen into a category of what is called ‘poor condition,’ Glen explains. “So we have been lobbying for the last few years to get that investment up to a level that’s commensurate to what other asset owners would have to spend just to keep their property in good shape.
“Albertans have very high expectations for their transportation system,” he adds. “Everybody uses roads and everybody appreciates them, but roads are a monopoly that are owned and operated by government, provincial and municipal, so they don’t really have a voice. So our association realized we are going to have to step up to be a voice for the roads and road users. So we just want Albertans to help us get that message across.”
The contest rules are the photos can only be of Alberta roadways, not sidewalks or parking lots. The photos must be tagged #AlbertaFixOurRoads, and be posted on social media with that hashtag. And they must also be tagged with @AB_Roadbuilders on Twitter or with albertaroadbuilders on Facebook or Instagram.
The winning road will be announced in June. To hear more about the contest and the problems with Alberta’s roads visit drivingimprovement.ca Follow @@TimKalHerald on Twitter 4
-3
