Residents say lives in jeopardy waiting for repair of Highway 333 washout between Halifax and Peggys Cove

Completely useless.

That’s Arne Meyer’s assessment of Public Works and its attempts to fix a gaping hole on Highway 333 just beside his home in Blind Bay.

It’s been there for three-and-a-half weeks since a record rainstorm hit Nova Scotia. Meyers watched from his home as the downpour overwhelmed the culvert and washed out a section of the meandering highway that connects Halifax to Peggys Cove. It’s been closed to traffic ever since.

Meyer says he’s shocked that Public Works has yet to reopen the section of highway. The province should have the material and manpower to bypass the site in a matter of days, not weeks, he says.

The washout isn’t just an inconvenience, he says.

Several communities along the highway are cut off from a direct route to Halifax. That includes at least 500 households in West Dover, East Dover, McGrath’s Cove and Big Lake that are used to a 20- to 30-minute drive to the city.  For nearly a month, people in those communities have had a trek of at least three times as long. They must go in the opposite direction on Highway 333, through Peggys Cove, Tantallon and then onto Highway 103 to Halifax.

That presents a public safety risk, says Meyer. First responders have no easy route to get in and out of those communities in the event of an emergency.

“What happens if someone has a serious heart attack; they’re going to die,” he said.  “What if someone’s house is burning down?”

He says residents need to know whether the province is prepared for such emergencies. 

That’s also Melissa Young’s biggest concern. She lives in West Dover and is fed up waiting for the highway to be reopened. 

Public Works says Halifax Regional Municipality’s emergency management office “has co-ordinated staging emergency fire equipment on the far side of the closure.”

Meanwhile, Young says people are also facing unreasonably long work commutes, which is especially taxing on families with small children, she says.

“We are taxpayers down here and this should be a priority,” she said.

A temporary, one-lane, steel bridge is being installed at the site of the washout. Gary Andrea, a spokesperson for Public Works, said in an email that the bridge will open to traffic within “the next few days.” Once the road is opened, the related page on the province’s website 511.NovaScotia.ca will be updated to reflect the change, he said.

Andrea also said a plan was in place to restore road access earlier, but the department ran into problems. Contractors discovered bedrock when they excavated. More rain also created challenging delays.

Meyer said he had a feeling the repair was not going well.  He said a construction crew spent about a week digging out the culvert, after which a second torrential rainstorm washed away what progress they’d made.

“The (hole) opened twice as big,” said Meyer. “Whatever they dug out, it was all gone.”

Both Meyer and Young say the province should be keeping the affected communities updated on what’s happening at the site. Meyer said he made several calls to Public Works but never got a response. He noted that local MLA Iain Rankin has been helpful, providing regular updates on his social media accounts.

“It’s just insanity, the least Public Works could do is tell us what’s happening,” said Meyer, but there’s been no effort.