https://youtu.be/gt-F6rwpy_gEDITORS NOTE: The Advocate received a comment from The Department of Transportation after press time on Tuesday. It was been added into this version of the story.
Charles O’Connor has been living on Anderson Mountain Road for 55 years. Over time, he has watched the road he grew up on deteriorate into chunks of asphalt and gravel that have caused flat tires and bent tire rims over the years.
Chip seal was put down in 1989 and it operated as a gravel road before that; O’Connor said that was the last time the road was paved.
“There’s at least two flat tires with bent rims that I’ve helped change in the past month,” he said.
Although the road has had cold patching done several times, O’Connor said that each spring the asphalt lifts and leaves gravel and chunks all over the road, causing potholes and big chunks of asphalt that can damage a car.
O’Connor said that a couple of weeks ago, trucks came to paint a new yellow line on the road. He was amazed to see the trucks continue despite the potholes, painting the line right through the centre of some. Only a couple of weeks later, on parts of the road can be seen yellow paint scattered across in bits of gravel. O’Connor added that along with the two flat tires he has helped other residents of the road fix, his trailer also suffered a broken axle. He and the other residents cover all of the costs of repairs to their vehicles and any replacement rims or tires they need entirely themselves.
“Why are they putting in new roads when they can’t look after the ones they’ve got?” asked County Councillor Peter Boyles about the provincial government. The road, that has 17 houses on it, falls under Boyles’ area of the county, District 9.
“The only solution now is you’ve got to take it all off or repave the whole thing,” said O’Connor.
He, as well as other residents of the road, have been advocating for years to have the road repaved and properly fixed with no success. They have started mobilizing their group lately with the creation of a Facebook group to help residents stay up to date.
A media representative for The Department of Transportation commented the following on the roads paving situation.
“crews started patching with it (Monday) on Anderson Mountain Road and will continue today. This road is also being considered for resurfacing in future Capital Programs.