Roads a hot mess – MHCA tells public to call their elected officials
The potholes have grown to craters on our roads and the MHCA is reminding taxpayers to speak to their politicians about a permanent fix.
MHCA is running short, sharp radio advertisements on local stations this week, encouraging people to call their elected representatives and tell them to Fix Our Roads.
MHCA radio advertisements
The campaign is part of ongoing MHCA advocacy directed at fixing streets and highways, which have been perennially pocked with potholes and surface breaks that can damage vehicles, and slow commuters and the movement of goods. For some, such as cyclists, bad roads are dangerous.
“The extraordinary problem this spring with our roads, Winnipeg and across Manitoba including on highways, is simply a predictable outcome of years of under-funding,” MHCA President Chris Lorenc said.
Lorenc stressed that paving over potholes is not the solution. Municipalities have neither the financial resources nor the access to sufficient revenue sources to address the weighty demand for service they are struggling to meet.
“We want people to call their elected officials to have that conversation about a sustainable, long-term solution so we can ensure roads are adequately maintained, preventing potholes from opening every spring and growing to the size of craters or trenches.”
Municipalities require a ‘new fiscal deal’ with the province and the federal government to more fairly share the tax revenues and so co-funded infrastructure project agreements also consider life-cycle costs of maintenance and repair. Municipalities collect just 10 cents of every tax dollar but own more than half of the public infrastructure.
The advertisements are 11-second spots approximately, read by announcers on nine stations during traffic and weather reports. They are being run on stations QX104, Peggy99, Power97, CJOB, Virgin103, 94.3 Now!, Bounce 99.9, Hot100.5 and Funny1290.
