Fixing an ongoing issue
Department of Transportation to spend $1 million to plane and repave section of Highway 125
A section of Cape Breton highway near North Sydney will once again receive a facelift.
The Department of Transportation will spend $1 million to plane and repave a section of Highway 125 (Trans-Canada Highway), over the span of two weeks, the latest in a number of repairs to the highway in recent years.
Residents and travellers of the area raised concerns in January about grooves in the highway, which can cause vehicles to hydroplane when water settles into the ruts when it rains.
“As a person who drives that highway many times personally every day myself, the road is in such condition that any improvements on it would definitely be an improvement,” said Lloyd MacIntosh, chief of North Sydney Volunteer Fire Department. “There has been fatal accidents on that highway already because of some of the road conditions and the water on the road and if this elevates these conditions then by all means it’s definitely a good thing.”
Highway 125 was paved six years ago. Heavy amounts of traffic on the highway caused grooves and ruts in the roadway, which have led to serious issues.
District director for the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal, Gerard Jessome, said the problem was originally addressed with a forensic audit before the paving six years ago, with all of the asphalt meeting regulation standards.
“We really looked into the asphalt that was there and looked at any issues that could be causing — I guess, premature failure of the asphalt. We couldn’t really come to any conclusions that pointed us in a direction that we know would fix the problem,” said Jessome.
“Really, the asphalt that was placed there passed our specifications when it was placed at the time. It was placed by a number of different contractors over the years.
The condition of the highway has been under scrutiny since August 2015 when an accident, that many believe may have been caused by the ruts, claimed the life of a North River man.
Two weeks earlier, a Frenchvale woman was seriously injured after losing control of her
vehicle while trying to manoeuvre out of a rut between Exits 3 and 4.
In October 2015, a six-kilometre section of the highway close to North Sydney was repaved. More work was done last year when the Department of Transportation repaired parts of the highway.
“In the wintertime it’s normal slippery conditions you have to deal with, that part isn’t really too much of a problem, my issue with Highway 125 and others as well is the hydroplaning and the grooves in the road
because the water settles and has nowhere to go,” said MacIntosh.
“Water should drain off the road, but instead the water is settling in these groves that are in place and when you get into that with your tires, even good tires, you’re going for a ride, you’re going to hydroplane.” he said.
Jessome agrees heavy traffic along with weather conditions are the cause of the deterioration, adding the Department of Transportation is working to fix the problem.
“The rutting along highway 125 is certainly deeper than we would have liked so we’re completing these repairs to improve the riding surface and make it safer for everyone.” said Jessome.
Work will begin soon on both sides of the divided highway. The construction will cover roughly 11km of spots that span from Sydney River to exit 2. Municipal Ready-Mix Ltd., a Sydney River company, was awarded the contact for the work.
The work is scheduled to be finished before the end of next month.