‘Half-scared’ to travel on Green Street

West Hants residents concerned over pothole-laden, ‘sinking’ Newport Station road

West Hants residents are concerned someone may get seriously injured if Green Street isn’t soon fixed.

Although seeing road surfaces throughout the province deteriorate over the winter months is nothing new to Nova Scotians, Newport Station residents say problems with the street date back several years — and they’re only getting worse.

“I’ve seen dirt roads that are in better shape,” said Naomi McCulloch, whose

adjacent Highway 1 property is to Green Street and, as a result of culvert issues, is now prone to flooding.

McCulloch, and her husband, Abner Hartt, have been lobbying to have repairs made to Green Street since the culvert that ran underneath the roadway was damaged a few years ago.

“And the road has sunk since then and they tried to pave over it.

“They tried to patch it, not fixing the actual problem,” said McCulloch.

provincial The couple said the solution to a gaping hole in the road was to fill it with concrete, but that, they said, wound up killing most of the fish in the brook and causing extensive flooding to their backyard.

“I went over before the cement got poured down there and there was a three-foot drop underneath the asphalt — like there was nothing,” said Hartt.

He said the brook used to have an abundance of fish, and it was a regular occurrence to see blue heron scoping out the waterway for a snack.

Not anymore.

And the water flow isn’t the same either.

“I used to have a beautiful backyard. I can’t mow it. I can barely walk on it because of the water.

“It’s that saturated with water all of the time now,” said McCulloch, who estimates she’s lost at least five feet of yard due to the water issues.

“When there’s heavy rain, you could take a canoe in my backyard.”

Last year, the couple wound up contacting the ombudsman’s office and lodged an official complaint about the roadway.

McCulloch said it was only then that they received a complaint number for the road.

McCulloch, who has lived there for about 10 years, said she used to enjoy taking a walk down Green Street — but not anymore.

“I used to walk Green Street; now I’m half scared to,” said McCulloch.

SINKING ROADWAY

“I know people have damaged their vehicles going down it,” McCulloch added.

One of those people is Diane Hamilton, who lives on Green Street. She has been trying to find someone to fix the road for about three years.

“Our road is sinking. It’s cracked from one side to the other; it’s loaded with potholes,” said Hamilton, frustrated with the lack of movement on the issue.

She’s lived on the street for about 25 years, and her husband, Jonathan, for 60.

In March, she was driving down the street, which she likens to a yo-yo, when she heard a bump.

“I thought it was just my bumper, but it was my tie rod ends. I blew my tires; the belt in my front two tires and threw my car out of alignment,” said Hamilton.

The cost to repair her

2019 Jeep Compass: almost $2,600.

“The damage done to my car, they expect me to fix it — but I pay taxes. They know about the road’s damage, which is what happens when you don’t fix something,” Hamilton said.

She’s concerned the road is only going to get worse.

“Somebody’s going to come down that road and that road’s going to let go and they’re going to get desperately hurt. I’m lucky I wasn’t hurt.”

“Our road is sinking. It’s cracked from one side to the other; it’s loaded with potholes.” Diane Hamilton Green Street resident

‘HIGH PRIORITY’ STREET

West Hants Mayor Abraham Zebian said he’s been contacted by residents about the road, even though it’s not municipally owned. He encourages anyone concerned to contact the provincial Public Works department to lodge a complaint so that they have a record of it.

“If they don’t do that, there’s no record of it. That’s the unfortunate part,” said Zebian.

He has been out to view the road conditions.

“It’s in pretty rough shape,” Zebian said.

“A lot of roads are in pretty rough shape this time of year because of hard

cooling winters, warming and rapidly within 24 hours. That was our winter this year… But, that road has just been neglected, period,” he said.

Melissa Sheehy-Richard visited the residents when campaigning to become

West Hants MLA. Although out of town when contacted for this story, she confirmed via email that she was aware of the situation and the provincial government was working on a solution.

“We have this street raised as a high priority due to it being neglected for far too long,” Sheehy-Richard wrote.

“The culvert needs to be replaced before we can properly address it and our area manager is working to rectify the situation ASAP.”

Her constituency assistant, Ashley Imlay, spoke with Robyn Homans of Nova Scotia Public Works and confirmed the road will be repaired.

“Green Street is scheduled to be resurfaced this construction season. There is also a large culvert on Green Street that is scheduled to be replaced and this project will be completed prior to the resurfacing,” Homans wrote in response to Imlay’s inquiry.

“Until both projects are completed, the local maintenance forces will attempt to maintain the road in a passable condition.”