A storm surge has taken its toll on a portion of Highway 207 near Lawrencetown Beach, N.S., with the province on Monday closing the road, eventually opening it shortly before 2:00 p.m.
It was the third day in a row that the road has been closed.
According to a tweet from Nova Scotia’s department of transportation and infrastructure renewal, the surf has tossed debris onto the road and raised the water levels extremely high in the area.
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The closure extended from MacDonalds Hill to Lesley Road, according to department.
Pat Gray, an area manager for the province said that he anticipates having to close the road later tonight and in the coming days.
“Probably the first breach was back in one of the January storms. We lost some of the bigger armour stone protection along the shoreline, so we did have it happen a little bit more periodically, more so than it has in the last few years, but it has been happening off and on probably for the last 15 to 20 years,” Gray said.
Several people who visit the beach often told Global News they had never seen waves reach this far inland.
Carl Brimfield said he lived close to the scene of the closure and was frustrated that he couldn’t get through.
“We have got to go now literally another half an hour out of our way just to get home,” he said, adding that he didn’t see any signs warning about the closure on any nearby roads.
Gray said staff members are trying to build up a temporary berm, and work is underway to develop a permanent fix in the form of a revetment, “which will take into consideration some of the wave action as well as the high tides, and some of the other engineering concerns that we have though here.”
He said he anticipates design and tender work to take two months before construction can start on it.
Potential road closures may spring up until Thursday, Gray said.
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