Wretched roads will make a poor first impression when Winnipeg welcomes visitors from around the world for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 in June, not to mention CFL fans who arrive from across Canada for the Grey Cup in November.

“I feel like I want to apologize to the people that are coming and say, ‘We’re really sorry the roads are so bad,’” CAA Manitoba president and CEO Mike Mager said Tuesday.

Mager launched CAA Manitoba’s fourth annual Worst Road in Manitoba campaign at a service station on Pembina Highway, perennially voted on as one of the worst roads in the province — and the route taken to get to Investors Group Field, the site of both of those major events.

“Pembina Highway epitomizes what a ‘worst road’ in Manitoba looks and feels like,” Mager said. “Not only is it riddled with issues from congestion, poor lane markings, and poor cycling safety, but it’s also a road that, no matter what work is done, problems always seem to come back.”

Then there are the roads taken from the airport.

“People come from the airport to our (CAA) location (on Empress) and some of the roads they take are terrible. It’s not something you feel very proud about it and it’s concerning. To me, when you host big events — the Grey Cup, the FIFA Women’s World Cup of Soccer, which is quite an achievement for Winnipeg, and what are they gonna see when they come up here? They’ll experience the roads, and that’s their first impression of Winnipeg and that’s not very good.”

The campaign was started to show the various governments what streets should be fixed first. From Tuesday to April 22, you can vote for the worst road at caamanitoba.com/worstroads, the CAA Manitoba Facebook page, or the CAA app. You can also post pictures of bad roads on the website for the first time.

The website also features a section on infrastructure projects in Manitoba that are scheduled for the next two years.

Weekly prizes will be awarded to voters as well as a car care grand prize valued at $500.

“Let’s hope the government listens and responds, and gets to the point where we can be very proud of our roads and enjoy driving throughout our city every day,” Mager said.

jim.bender@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @bendersun