Kamloops deserved to be on worst-roads list

FRIDAY MORNING EDITORIAL — Some lists are good to be on, some not so much.

Whenever Kamloops makes a list of best places to do business, or best small cities in which to live, we feel pleased. When we make a list of less desirable attiibutes, we feel defensive.

The B.C. Automobile Association published its fourth annual survey of the province’s worst roads Thursday, and Kamloops wasn’t on it.

We should have been.

Topping the list is Silver Star Road in Vernon, cited for its potholes and crumbling pavement. In second place was Westside Road 40 km north of West Kelowna, followed by Cosen Bay Road in Colstream near Vernon.

Other were in Richmond, Surrey, Maple Ridge and Vancouver Island.

Poor conditions were the most-often cited reason for inclusion on the Top 10, but some also made it due to traffic congestion or danger to pedestrians and cyclists.

Really, pothole-wise, our very own Westsyde Road in the Westmount area should have been a contender. Dodging the bumps has become impossible, so commuters are forced to fasten their seat belts and forge ahead. It’s a little like off-roading, every day.

Another, albeit temporary situation, is the reconstruction area at the intersection of Lansdowne and First Avenue, which backs up traffic for blocks. This writer waited through five traffic-light changes on Thursday while making his way down Lanasdowne.

Topping them all, of course, is Overlanders Bridge and its bone-rattling ride over the ka-chunk ka-chunk expansion joints. Maybe bridges don’t qualify in the BCAA survey, but they should.

Road-wise, we dodged a bullet with this survey.