Highway 5 at Buchanan declared Saskatchewan’s worst road in CAA poll

The results are in, and Highway 5 has been declared the worst road in Saskatchewan.

Between April 8 and Tuesday, CAA Saskatchewan polled drivers around the province in an effort to identify the 10 worst roads in the province. It’s no small task, as Saskatchewan has almost 250,000 kilometres of roadways. In total, 1,299 roads were nominated in this year’s competition.

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The results of the 2025 survey were released on Wednesday, with Highway 5 at Buchanan taking the top spot due to poor maintenance. That stretch of highway finished in second place in the 2024 survey, and sat in the third spot the year before that.

“It’s really gone downhill,” Darren Godhe, the mayor of Buchanan, told 650 CKOM.

Godhe said a couple spots on the road have been patched up, but no major repairs have been done in recent memory. He said he thinks repairs in the past have been done cheaply, and said wants the province to address the issue.

The section of Highway 5 that passes through Buchanan was named the worst road in Saskatchewan by CAA. (Google Maps)

“I think if they could get it in their budget and fix it properly, that’s the proper thing to do because of the amount of traffic,” Godhe said.

According to Godhe, the section of Highway 5 that passes through his community isn’t the only bad stretch. He the highway is in rough shape all the way from from Buchanan to Canora.

Godhe, who has only been mayor of Buchanan since November, said he hasn’t yet spoken with his MLA about getting the highway repaired, but he noted that he’s advocated for other road repairs in the past without much success.

“It feels like nothing’s going to happen anyways. I’ve advocated for culverts to be fixed and stuff that I noticed that we’ve added over four or five years and still haven’t done anything,” Godhe explained. “I don’t imagine they’re going to pave a huge stretch of highway like that.”

In second place on CAA’s list was Highway 339 at Avonlea, with potholes being the primary concern for drivers.

Pothole problems dominated this year’s survey, and were listed as the primary concern for all of the remaining roads on the list.

Highway 4 at Dorintosh finished fourth, Fifth Avenue Northwest in Moose Jaw came in fourth in the poll and Highway 2 at Cudworth came in fifth. Highway 47 at Springside was sixth on the list of worst roads, followed by Highway 102 in La Ronge and Highway 123 at Petaigan/Ravendale/Pemmican Portage in the eighth spot.

Ninth place was a tie between two roads in Moose Jaw: 13th Avenue Northwest and Coteau Street West.

Finishing off the list was a 10th-place tie between Highway 35 at Weyburn and Warman Road in Saskatoon.

In a statement, CAA explained why potholes seem to be so common on roadways around the Saskatchewan.

“In cold climates like Saskatchewan, the freeze-thaw cycle plays a key role in creating potholes – a problem that occurs when temperatures regularly go above and below the freezing point,” CAA explained.

“When rain or snow seeps through cracks and openings in the pavement, it freezes and expands, causing the pavement to heave upward. As temperatures rise, the ground underneath the pavement returns to its normal level, leaving a cavity or hole which breaks apart with continued traffic by road users over the fractured pavement.”

CAA said it shares the results of its campaign with government and business leaders, in order to push for improvements.

Last year’s winner was a stretch of Highway 8, going north from Moosomin to Rocanville, due to some very deep potholes.

–with files from 650 CKOM’s Shane Clausing