Dear Toronto road maintenance - Incoming rant

[Nullray]

I would just like to express my major concerns for the current conditions of the roads in the GTA. First off we as GTA citizens have had to pay a double license renewal fee to drive in our great city for a few years now. We have to pay taxes for fuel when buy a car, pay taxes for the gas to drive our cars and pay taxes to maintain them... Tax Tax Tax.
So my concern is the moon crater conditions that our roads have become and the IMPACT it has on everyones daily commute. Honestly, have they ever been this bad? Is that brine $hit you decided to put down like acid to asphalt. Weakening to the point where plows are peeling it back like an orange. Or are the materials just crap? Both???
Every time I go out I feel like I need to flow with the force and weave and roll like a Jedi starfighter avoiding buzz droids to get to where I am going. My wheel wells sound like a hail storm from hell where ever I go. My ABS and TC have gone off because of all the little nuggets crumbling everywhere. Honestly, we use to make fun of Montreal for terrible conditions. Who laughing now??
Why has it come to this?

[Metroplex79]

^ haha.

Yeah, there's a particular hole at my closest major intersection that's like 1.5-2 feet wide, and 1 foot deep. Not just the hole, but all the bits that used to cover that hole are scattered around it.

When I'm pedestrian-ing it across by that part, I have to avoid it, I don't want to accidently slip and twist my ankle because it's an actual crater not just a simply hole.

I can just imagine if a car or truck drives over it. Though I do notice every car avoiding it "like a Jedi starfighter avoiding buzz droids"

[Jeepmanhastj]

Its not just there my friend, it's all over Southern Ontario.

There's a main street in Waterloo I was driving down the other day and noticed the "pot holes" from a far.
Little did I know as I got closer the "pot holes" turned into massive craters at least a 1-2 ft deep.
I drive past a day later and what did they do - pylons to "warn" us of the holes.

It's brutal everywhere!

[Aernaroth]

You think you've got it bad, try driving in Montreal.

[Pascal]

Or Drummondville. I'd be better off riding a motocross right now.

[Dark Rage]

Wooo! Look at that pavement fly!

You know there's a Toronto hotline to request pothole repairs.
http://www.toronto.ca/transportation/roads/potholes.htm

[Team Jetfire]

Its really bad in Calgary too. Apparently the cold weather messes with it really bad.

[Metroplex79]

Maybe we should have rubber roads and cement tires...

An e-cookie for whomever gets that reference

[Cheers Ian]

They were fixing them yesterday on Hwy 8 in K-dubs and today on the 401 near Trafalgar.

[james0417]

Quite the rant.

First things first...gotta say...GTA isn't a city...it's a region of cities. Grouping Mississauga or Brampton for example into Toronto is just plain wrong and believe me personally I don't want to be associated with Toronto haha.

Which double license fee are you referring to exactly ?

Taxes for fuel are done at both the Federal and Provincial level. Federal level has nothing to do with roads. The Provincial component is distributed to the cities for things other than road maintenance. Such as new highways and public transit.

I fail to see how your tax argument for those other points could possibly contribute to our roads ?!

There's a saying there are two sure things in life...death and taxes. Get used to it.

Our roads system is 1,000,000 times better than those of the American roads i've traveled on. Trust me we got it good here in the GTA...don't forget there are like 4 Million people in the GTA...that's alot of roads and they take time to repair and maintain. My street here took 25 years to be paved...and I had to fight the city for 3 years. Our roads are well maintained, period. The cold spell we had a few weeks ago wreaked havoc on our roads not to mention the warming and cooling lately...weather is what damages the roads. Not the materials used...why would they cheap out on that...it would just mean more work for them and more money !? That doesn't make sense, not to mention increased taxes.

Like someone said above...there's a hotline to call...I suggest you make notes of where they are and they will be filled. Or go to the media...things will get done even faster ie. "The Fixer" via the Toronto Star.

Trust me...we've got it good. Get outside of the Toronto area and you'll see what i mean !!! There are other cities out there.