Souris causeway damage leads to calls for permanent fix

Damage caused by a recent winter storm to the shoreline around the causeway in Souris has local officials worried about what will happen if more damage cuts off access to the causeway.

The causeway links the main highway in and out of eastern Kings County.

Souris-Elmira MLA Colin LaVie visited the area Saturday with Mayor David MacDonald and saw eight to ten feet of shoreline missing.

Fencing that had been put in to gather sand and block waves was cracked and bent.

"I came down to look, and I was shocked with what I'm seeing here today," said LaVie.

MacDonald said the fencing was supposed to provide a solution to the problem. "But as you can see, if the storm is bad enough, the fencing didn't do much."

Environment Canada had issued a storm surge warning along with the winter storm that hit P.E.I. Jan. 13. The warning said the surge could cause damage along the coastline.

LaVie said with damage from one more major storm, waves could be breaking over the causeway.

"We'd then have a new bridge to nowhere because we wouldn't be able to access the causeway, and we'd be looking at a serious substantial detour if major construction had to take place," said MacDonald.

Both politicians say they plan to alert provincial and federal officials immediately and have engineers try to find a short-term solution before the next major storm.

But LaVie says the help can't end there.

"With global warming, we don't have the ice we used to have and the storms are hitting the shorelines harder and harder every year," said LaVie.

"Governments in the past have been aware of the problem, not only on Souris beach but all along our coastlines. And nobody's taken it seriously, and this is a serious issue."

CBC contacted the provincial Department of Transportation for comment but did not receive a response.