One of the most complained-about roadways in Waterloo Region is being recommended for resurfacing, in a new report that says “deterioration of the pavement on Ira Needles Boulevard has accelerated.”
The report is calling on Region of Waterloo council to approve a $4.5-million addition to this year’s capital budget to resurface the roadway from Yellow Birch Drive, just north of Highway 7/8, to West Hill Drive, just south of Erb Street West.
Staff are telling council they looked into the state of Ira Needles after multiple complaints came in this past winter.
The report says “the surface condition of Ira Needles is past the point of patch repairs and requires a new surface to provide continued safe operation of the road, and in a state of good repair.”
And the seam between the original lanes of asphalt and the newer lanes added several years ago is particularly bad.
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The report says, “Staff are recommending a more extensive resurfacing treatment consisting of removal and replacement of the top asphalt surface, as spot treatment would not be an effective solution.”
But staff say the work can be done in 2026, partly because it does not require any new design work.
Ira Needles has been named the worst local roadway in recent CAA Worst Roads campaigns, and made the agency’s Top 5 list for southwestern Ontario.
This report comes up to regional councillors at the Sustainability, Infrastructure, and Development Committee meeting on Tuesday.