Almost 20 per cent of Windsor’s roads are beyond repair and need to be replaced, according to the city’s acting engineer.
A road classified as ‘now-deficient’ has surpassed its useful life and requires full reconstruction, something that currently the case with nearly a fifth of Windsor’s streets.
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Chris Jacobson, who lives on one of those roads, said driving along Jarvis Avenue is like playing a game of Whac-A-Mole.
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“It’s pothole-ridden and the road is cracked beyond repair,” said the East Windsor resident, adding he measured potholes last winter that were nearly four inches deep.
In order to reconstruct every now-deficient road, which covers approximately 200 kilometres of Windsor roadway, the city’s acting-Commissioner of Infrastructure Services Mark Winterton said the city would need to fork out upwards of $300 million to $400 million — funding it does not have.
“In a perfect world, we wouldn’t have any now-deficient roads,” said Winterton. “But we don’t live in a perfect world, unfortunately.
“The exact number of now-deficient roads based on actual formal data is 18.9 per cent. It’s been here for a very long time and it’s always been hovering around 20 per cent. In fact, one in five roads are now-deficient or in need of full reconstruction.”
Inspired by the colour-coded system Winterton uses to map out the infrastructure’s condition, now-deficient roads are also dubbed “red roads.”
There are four unofficial colour-coded designations for the city’s roads.
Following red, Winterton said approximately 15 per cent are flagged orange, requiring rehabilitation in the next one to five years. Yellow roads call for maintenance in six to 10 years, and green are considered adequate.
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Jacobson, who has lived on Jarvis Avenue since 1963, expressed frustration over what he sees as the city’s omission to repair what is now classified as one of Windsor’s “red” roads.
“The storm sewers don’t work at all, so if we get any moderate rain, the street basically covers over with the standing water and it sits there for a few days. It mainly pools on the shoulders and creeps up a quarter of the way onto the road, so you can’t see where the potholes are.”
He said the road has not been properly repaired in decades.
“For the tax dollars that we pay, I just don’t see the value for money that we’re getting here,” Jacobson said.
“It seems like it’s just totally ignored. I really don’t know what I’m paying for. It’s that frustrating.”
Jacobson said he contacted Ward 7 Coun. Angelo Marignani many times requesting that the road be fixed. He said he would even be satisfied with a mill-and-pave to repair the surface of the road, even though it would not address the faulty storm sewers.
“Unfortunately we do not have the resources,” said Winterton, which is why so many of the city’s roads are now beyond repair.
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“The funding model changed and the City of Windsor has unfortunately been left to its own devices. We’re no different than any other municipality in Canada in terms of this challenge.”
Winterton said the funding model previously divvied up the costs to maintain roads equally between the federal, provincial and municipal governments. Now, the onus to pay for road maintenance is largely left to the municipalities.
“So, we’ve been behind two-thirds in funding since the early-’90s,” he said.
The city’s proposed 2024 capital budget allocates $2,246,241 for “local residential road rehabilitation” this year, and $42,029,410 over the next 10 years. This work is paid for through a built-in annual increase in the city’s asset management plan levy (AMP).
In its first year, the local road AMP levy raised $1.1 million, and it will grow to roughly $4.4 million annually after four years.
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The municipal budget allocates millions of additional dollars annually for other road rehab not funded by the AMP levy.
However, Jarvis Avenue is not included in the currently proposed five-year road rehabilitation capital program.
Winterton said the city will continue to carry out its mandate to ensure roads are safe.
“Once a pothole is identified, it gets filled,” he said.
“You might have to drive a little slower down your road, and that pothole is a little unattractive, but it should be safe to drive on.”
— With files from Taylor Campbell
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