HALIFAX – A 2.5-kilometre stretch of Pockwock Road in Hammonds Plains that is notoriously in disrepair is set for a major facelift.
But instead of repairing the cracked and buckled road, the city plans to tear up the asphalt and replace it with gravel.
A letter recently sent to the approximately 10 households along the stretch of road has caused concern among the residents. It prompted discussion and questions at a community meeting last Thursday night.
“It’s not very good. It’s going to be really dusty,” said Dave Brown, who has lived in the neighbourhood for about five years.
“We pay a lot of money here for taxes. A lot of money. We don’t get nothing in return for it.”
Local councillor Matt Whitman told Global News the road is the worst in his district and likely one of the worst in all of the municipality. However, he said fixing the road is not cost-effective.
He estimates paving it would cost about $1 million. Meanwhile, the tender for the road’s “asphalt pulverization” has already closed, with the lowest bid coming in at $307,400 to turn the road into gravel.
“This is perfect example of a road that’s had no repair. You can see how cracked it is,” he said.
“It’s beyond maintenance and it’s time to make it just road worthy — a solid gravel road as opposed to a paved road.”
Whitman said there is a limited amount of funds available for infrastructure projects and the Hammonds Plains Road is the priority in his district.
“It’s just a matter of spending the budget dollars in the best possible way.”
Engineers with the municipality also believe there’s an underlying problem with the road that’s causing it to crack. According to city spokesperson Tiffany Chase, the gravel road is a somewhat temporary measure that will allow staff to monitor and decipher what is wrong with the road.
“Replacing it as gravel will allow us to monitor that over the next 12 months before we determine what the next step might be — whether that’s keeping it as gravel, replacing that with chip seal or paving it over,” she said.
The city expects to award the tender shortly and expects work to begin in June.
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