Annapolis Valley municipality seeks solution to crumbling roads
'We want to get this done through any means possible,' councillor says
The Municipality of the County of Kings wants a new provincial program to get crumbling local roads repaired more quickly.
"We've been at this for a long time," Coun. Martha Armstrong said at a council meeting Tuesday. "We want to get this done through any means possible."
Rural subdivisions across Nova Scotia have what's known as J-class roads.
They are owned by the province, but the cost of repairs is split evenly between the province and municipalities.
One-time $10M pot
There are 1,648 kilometres of J Class roads in Nova Scotia. Kings County has 135 kilometres, the third highest total in the province.
In 2020, the province created a one-time $10 million pot to deal with concerns about the state of the roads.
Scott Conrod, the CAO for Kings County, said 25 kilometres are in fair condition while the others will slip into the poor category.
He told county councillors there would be several advantages if the province permitted multi-year contracts and allowed municipalities to borrow to cover the province's debt costs.
"We're just doing dribs and drabs so this [program] would give us a larger [paving] contract so there would be an economy of scale, reduce insurance claims and address public complaints," he said.
Meeting later this month
Kings County officials need to convince the province's Treasury Board. A similar request was turned down in 2020.
A meeting is scheduled with Municipal Affairs Minister Brendan Maguire on June 30. The proposal on J-class roads is just one of the issues that will be discussed.
"His whole department is painfully familiar with this issue," said Mayor Peter Muttart.