Newmarket's Davis Drive named one of CAA's Worst Roads

YorkRegion.com
May 21, 2015
Chris Simon

"Stay calm, we're on it."

That's the message from Newmarket Mayor Tony Van Bynen to residents after finding out Davis Drive placed second in the Halton-Peel-York-Durham area in the 2015 CAA Worst Roads campaign this week. Davis was the only York Region road on the list, with Oshawa's Bloor Street East finishing first, Port Perry's Ashburn Road in third and Brampton's Steeles Avenue East sitting fourth. Burlington's New Street placed fifth on the list.

"Davis has been recognized for decades as being problematic for our community, in terms of congestion, capacity and safety," Van Bynen said. "That's one of the reasons why we've made Davis a priority going forward. We'll see substantive change in the very near future."

Over 2,000 roads were nominated by residents across Ontario. CAA releases the list in an effort to push governments to address infrastructure needs across the province.

"Davis ended up on the list for this region because of congestion; that's what the majority of people voted for," CAA government relations specialist Caroline Grech said.

Residents could nominate roads based on potholed, congestion, confusing signage or poor signalization timing issues.

Van Bynen pointed out the irony of having a road nominated while it is receiving substantive repairs.

"You have to wonder how much value is added by stating the obvious," he said. "At the same time, the intentions of the CAA ... is important."

The provincial government is spending about $261 million on the reconstruction of Davis. Once complete, the project will run from Yonge Street to Hwy. 404. A 2.6-kilometre Viva rapidway from Yonge to the Southlake Regional Health Centre area will open in mid-December, while pedestrian-friendly boulevards and open spaces are also planned. The entire project should be complete by mid-2016.

"I'm very confident that what they see on December the 14th will be very much worth the patience it's taken us to get through this," Van Bynen said, noting Davis had a high accident rate prior to the construction commencing, due to road configuration and congestion. "People were getting frustrated and taking chances they shouldn't have."