‘It has deteriorated severely’
North River Road resident concerned about crumbling roadway
Jennifer Sawler is disgusted every time she swerves to the wrong side of the street to avoid large craters on the North River Road.
Sawler drives on the road at least twice a day to get to and from work. On Feb. 28, she said the roadway was in its normal condition with bumps, potholes and cracked asphalt in some places.
A mere two days later, Sawler said dump trucks travelling on the road during a spring-like thaw to access a nearby quarry had caused large ruts filled with cracked asphalt.
“It’s like loose asphalt gravel in giant holes,” she said March 2.
“It has deteriorated severely.” Sawler, a single parent on a fixed income, said she slowly makes her way through the worst stretches of the road, but she’s still concerned the pieces of loose asphalt will damage her car.
“I’m travelling on to the opposite side of the road to get around some of those holes because they’re so deep.”
Sawler would like to see the private company responsible for the damage foot the bill for the road repairs – and soon.
“They’re the ones that destroyed it,” she said, stressing that she does not feel it would be fair for taxpayers’ dollars to be spent on this considering that the trucking activity continued even after the first signs of damage were apparent.
She believes the roadway should be restored before commuters travelling to Aylesford Lake and Lake George start using the road again.
Kings South MLA Keith Irv- ing took a drive down North River Road March 2 to assess the damage firsthand after hearing from concerned citizens.
The MLA was quick to admit the condition of the road made him a bit angry.
“It’s hard to imagine any responsible trucker driving over that road over and over as it broke up,” he said.
Irving noted gaps in the pavement and even some sections that appeared to be “virtually turned to powder.”
“I was very, very disappointed in what I saw there,” he said, stressing that millions of dollars are spent on roads each year and there’s still a long list of projects waiting for funding.
Irving shared his constituents’ concerns with senior officials with the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal.
Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal spokesperson Brian Taylor circulated a press release Feb. 23 to announce that weight restrictions were in place for all provincial gravel roads as of noon Feb. 24, but these restrictions did not apply to the North River Road.
“Spring weight restrictions will come into effect very soon but, in the meantime, staff in the area are aware of the issue and are reviewing the site to determine if any steps need to be take in the interim,” said Taylor in an e-mail to Kings County News March 2.
“There are fines for breaking the weight restrictions once they are in place.”