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Toronto needs to not just hold the line on the city's $320-million road repair backlog, it needs to eliminate it over the next decade.

That was the word from the Canadian Automobile Association in what has become an annual plea to Toronto politicians to move more quickly on road repairs.

"The goal should not be to stabilize, the goal should be to reduce the backlog and the time to start is now," said CAA spokesperson Faye Lyons at Wednesday's public hearings on Toronto's capital budget. "Quite frankly, the funding strategy should be developed and this backlog needs this committee's immediate attention. Despite our opposition of the vehicle registration tax, you are receiving a windfall from motorists. Use it."

Lyons was speaking to a 2009 budget proposal that would see the city boost spending on road repairs by about $21 million next year. That's about the amount that the backlog of roads and bridges in need of repairs is projected to grow each year under the city's current funding model.

The increase is being made possible by Toronto's new vehicle registration tax, which is expected to raise about $55 million a year.

Lyons argued that more of that money should be going toward road repairs, to start whittling away at the backlog and eventually eliminate it.

"Poorly maintained roads affect the environment, safety and other city services and the public's perception of how politicians are allocating hard-earned tax dollars," she said.

The committee will be meeting Friday, Nov. 7 to bring any motions to the floor. But Lyons found little sympathy from the committee during the Wednesday meeting, when cycling advocates heaped praise on the city for accelerating Toronto's bike plan.

Budget Committee chair Shelley Carroll said the city is fixing roads as quickly as is feasible.

"It's a combination of how much we can actually process through the department in terms of contracts, how many contractors are out there and, most importantly, how much work can you do in a given warm weather season before the citizens stop complaining about the backlog and start complaining about the amount of construction," said Carroll. "We're pretty much at the saturation point now. Every year we get to the end of May and everybody gets upset about the amount of roads being worked on."