Not structurally sound after all?

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As a property owner at Sebim Beach in the Municipality of Barrington, I was interested in Warden Eddie Nickerson’s comments about the Cape Sable Island Causeway (Province Says Cape Sable Island Causeway Structurally Sound: June 20, 2018).

He expressed concern about the ever-growing sand spit at the North East Point Beach in terms of potential danger to drivers, and the potential loss of marina for recreational boaters, and equally important, the loss of migratory route for fish species. At the time the causeway was built it is unlikely that an environmental assessment was either required or done.

From the Sebim Beach perspective, as well as those on adjacent properties this side of the bay, there are other concerns. When the causeway was built it caused a shift in currents coming into Barrington Bay and over the course of decades since, the sand has shifted away from the Sebim Beach side to elongate the sand spit off the Sand Hills Beach into the bay, over to North East Point and beyond to other beaches on Cape Sable Island. With the loss of sand, the erosion of the coastline has been remarkable. The other day I walked all the way out on the sand bars to the red channel marker. The sandbar now

tina.comeau@tricountyvanguard.ca tricountyvanguard.ca 902-742-6527

comes within a few feet of the marker.

So, while the causeway itself may be structurally sound, everything around it is not. At the time it was built it may have seemed like the best plan to connect the island to the mainland. Today it would seem to me that the causeway needs to be opened up to allow the natural flow of currents, to preserve our coastline and waterways and to protect our beaches.

The federal government has infrastructure dollars, the provincial government is looking to boost employment and the economy. The time to open up the causeway is now. Barbara Thompson Barrington