The warden of Antigonish Co. says municipal officials have heard from their provincial counterparts regarding a pair of local roads.
Owen McCarron says residents and Gary Mattie, the councillors for District 8 (Tracadie/Monastery) have brought up concerns with the intersection of Hwy. 4 and Rte. 16 in Monastery.
After May’s regular municipal council meeting Tuesday night, McCarron said he expects to hear back from provincial transportation officials in the near future.
“It comes out at a little bit of an off-angle (and there’s) a lot of traffic travelling back and forth to Guysborough Co.,” he said. “With the potential developments happening- or looked at- down the road, I think they’re looking at it as an opportunity to maybe look at that intersection, get it right, and make the necessary changes, so we’re just in a wait-and-see (situation).”
McCarron said DOT officials conducted an assessment of the intersection, and a report was finished in late April.
He said one option would be to straighten and widen the intersection, but they won’t know for sure until the report is back.
McCarron said they’ve also been in touch regarding the Antigonish-Guysborough Rd.
He said they want it maintained to a high standard.
“I received a number of calls (recently) with respect to the roughness of that road, and the dust,” he said. “There’s a lot of heavy traffic on there, there’s a quarry just on the other side of the county line, and a lot of truck traffic.”
McCarron said they sent a letter to Lloyd Hines, the province’s transportation minister and the MLA for Guysborough-Eastern Shore-Tracadie, and the road isn’t in the province’s 2018-19 gravel road program, but DOT officials have committed to making sure it remains in good condition.
He said the road will have the attention of municipal officials for the summer months, and they’ll continue to press their provincial counterparts to maintain it.