The work to repair the shoulders of roads that remain washed out in the Halifax area continues weeks after the flash floods.
Dozens of pylons warning drivers to be on alert for damage remain in hard-hit Hammonds Plains nearly one month after the devastation. They were put in place to keep residents away from the shoulders of the roads that were washed out.
“It is pretty rough, just because it’s hard to drive around,” said resident Ryan McCarthy.
“You have to kind of swerve in and out, off and on the road just because of all the potholes, and it’s making driving to work or home kind of rough and kind of hard for all the pedestrians to walk around the roads as well.”
Coun. Pam Lovelace, who represents Hammonds Plains-St. Margarets, says the city has received hundreds of work orders to remedy the destruction.
She said crews are going all out to help fix the damage.
“It has been triaged and we’re looking at it from a priority perspective — similar to snow clearing,” she said. “We look at arterial roads, and the major roads, and then work our way down to lower density roads.”
Halifax Water still has many culverts to replace as well.
Lovelace acknowledged the wait for repairs can be a frustrating and convoluted experience, as some roads are municipal and others are provincial.
“There seems to be a lot of finger pointing that’s taking place as far as people not being aware, ‘Is this private property, is this public property, is it Halifax Water, is it HRM, is it the province?'” she said.
“There’s just too much confusion in this process. I would like to see it streamlined to ensure that at the end of the day, the homeowner knows who’s going to fix it and when it’s going to be fixed.”
She added that the city does not have enough resources to manage this type of destruction.
The municipality did not make anyone available for an interview Tuesday and failed to provide a statement as of 5 p.m.
For those who live in the community, they’re hoping for a calm end to the summer.
“I just want to be able to drive safely and have a safe drive to work, home, and see my friends,” McCarthy said.
— with files from Alex Cooke
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