N.S. campground owner says pothole-ridden road is driving away tourists

For 30 years, Ken MacLellan and his family have owned Meat Cove Campground at the northern tip of Cape Breton.

On its website, the campground boasts of its “rugged” outdoor camping — but recently, tourists have found it a bit rougher than they’d imagined.

MacLellan says so far this tourist season, he’s had 30 cancellations because of the four-kilometre stretch of provincial road that leads to the site.

“Because when they start on the road and they see the potholes, they turn around and go back and call me to cancel,” he said.

And it’s not just one, two or even a handful of potholes. MacLellan describes it as “one after the other,” 20 to 25 centimetres deep each.

“People are having trouble with their vehicles. I mean, they’re going to the garages. We fix four tires over there. We fix brake lines,” he said, adding he himself has recently spent $7,000 to fix the front end of his van.

To make matters worse, he says word has started to spread about the dire state of the road, and it’s driving away potential visitors.

“My tourist season is down by 50 per cent. I’m down $50,000 from the 1st of June until tomorrow,” he said.

“Last week, I had no paycheques for my employees because this has been so bad, and the road is in such bad condition.”

The road was repaired after 2010’s major flooding in the area, but it wasn’t completely paved. The road was upgraded five years ago, according to the Nova Scotia Department of Public Works, with new guardrail and paving along the steep hills.

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MacLellan says he’s implored the province to pave the entire road, but has never received a response from government. Even gravel, he points out, is only a temporary fix because of the damage caused by plows during the winter.

Last month, the province committed $6.4 million for the Seawall Trail, a 50-kilometre trail that will include huts for hikers, parking and a shuttle service from Meat Cove. On the federal side, Ottawa announced $43 million this week for infrastructure improvements and projects related to hurricane Fiona recovery in Parks Canada-administered places on Cape Breton.

None of this helps MacLellan.

“I feel left out,” he said.

Gary Andrea, a spokesperson from the Department of Public Works, said the department will be making repairs soon.

The province will be grading the road, as well as some gravel patching and ditching, “as soon as weather permits.”