Tantramar CAO Jennifer Borne

Tantramar’s Chief Administrative Officer says the town received no notification on April 1st when the province closed Highway 106, the main route between Sackville and Dorchester.

Jennifer Borne says she expected such notification from the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DTI) because of the need to inform police and fire in case of an emergency on either side of the washed-out highway.

“We were not notified and the information that I was given from their district engineer was to follow them on Twitter,” Borne said during the second in a series of community meetings held today at the Anglican Church Hall in Mount Whatley.

She was responding to a question from Sackville resident James MacDonald who wondered why the town did not inform residents of the road closure until the morning of April 3rd.

Borne suggested there should be “a direct line of communication” in such situations between a municipality and DTI.

She said town managers have now been asked to monitor New Brunswick 511 to stay up to date on road conditions in Tantramar.

‘Extreme disconnect’

Percy Best with his trusty cellphone camera

“There seems to be an extreme disconnect between DTI and the citizens,” said Sackville resident Percy Best.

He spoke of his frustrations trying to persuade the province to clear trees and brush from the sides of roads including the one that runs to Trueman’s Blueberry Farm near Aulac.

“This has gone on for like 20 years of growth,” Best complained.

“It’s extremely dangerous. If a deer jumps out, you’re going to drive into the front of another car or go into the ditch yourself to avoid it,” he said. “DTI seems to be in a no-man’s-land and they do not respond to citizens’ complaints.”

Best contrasted uncleared roadways here with the ones in PEI where, he said, you could play golf on the sides of their roads.

“These days with the mulchers, bushwackers and what have you, it’s a simple job,” he said.

Holding their ‘feet to the fire’

Mayor Andrew Black

“Most of the departments within the government don’t really want to hear from citizens, especially DTI it seems,” said Mayor Andrew Black.

He noted over the last 12-13 years, there’s been a spending shortfall on provincial roads of about $40 million.

“One of the big things is that the government needs to put more money into highway funding across the province.”

He added that some municipalities have managed to get DTI to come up with five-year asset management plans for provincial roads within their boundaries and once those plans are in place, they can hold DTI accountable for carrying them out.

“Some municipalities have had success with that and it holds the department’s feet to the fire, so if there’s some way that we can do that within Tantramar, I think that would benefit all of us greatly,” he said.

Busy beavers

Beaver blockage in big Highway 106 culvert. Photo: Percy Best. Labelling: Sharon Hicks

In the first community meeting in Dorchester on Thursday, Black announced that DTI had agreed to install a temporary bridge so that Highway 106 can be re-opened by early July instead of waiting for road reconstruction to be completed in September.

Percy Best reported at today’s meeting that he had gone out to the site of the highway washout and wearing rubber boots, had crawled inside the big culvert there.

“That four-foot culvert has a 30-inch high beaver dam located halfway through,” he said. “They constructed a dam, the water couldn’t get through,” he added, “and that’s what created the washout.”

Best criticized DTI for failing to clear the culvert.

“So, they’re not even taking a close look at the problem,” he said. “An ounce of prevention is worth, in this case, a tonne of fixing.”

Darlene Hicks-Phinney said that, years ago, when her husband worked for DTI, he talked for days about the discovery of a beaver dam inside that Highway 106 culvert.

“So, it’s the second time for sure that it’s happened,” she said.

“The culvert was fine,” Best said. “It was the beavers that caused the problem, so they should be the ones to go fix it,” he added as everyone laughed.

UPDATE on Monday, May 27/24

Warktimes sent a link to this story to DTI’s communications officer, but so far, has received no comment in response.

However, Tantramar Engineer Jon Eppell told town council on Monday that DTI does not believe that beavers built a dam inside the culvert blocking water flow and causing the highway washout.

“I was talking with the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure district engineer about the culvert on Rte. 106,” Eppell said, “and DTI is of the opinion that in fact, what happened is that the culvert pipe collapsed and the debris got trapped there and got infilled with some silt.

“They don’t believe that it was actually a beaver dam.”

Eppell said the culvert was scheduled to be replaced next year and the design for a new pipe is ready.

He added that DTI is now seeking environment approvals so that a new culvert can be in place this year.