Frustrated at the lack of communication from the Department of Public Works, Port Hawkesbury Town Councillors approved a motion to return Reeves Street to four lanes.
At last night’s regular monthly meeting, Port Hawkesbury CAO Terry Doyle presented council with a letter from public works engineers addressing each of the 14 issues elected officials raised about changes to Reeves Street.
Doyle said he and the Director of Public Works, Jason MacMillan, met with the engineers on June 14 to go over the concerns raised with changes to the town’s main thoroughfare which is a provincial highway administered by Nova Scotia Public Works.
Deputy Mayor Mark MacIver pointed to some confusing turns at the former TD Bank building and at the Sobeys outlet, as well as long traffic lines during certain times of the day.
Reeves Street, Port Hawkesbury, near the Civic Centre. (Ken Kingston photo)
Noting council has been unsuccessful getting face-to-face meetings with provincial officials for years and information has been slow in arriving, MacIver said a motion to return Reeves Street back to its original configuration will put the onus on the provincial government to act.
The deputy mayor said he wants the province to provide council with reasons why Reeves Street should not be turned back to a four-lane configuration.
Noting this has been ongoing since he was first elected to council four years ago, Town Councillor Jason Aucoin said he has “lost patience” with the province.
Town Councillor Hughie MacDougall said he is also “frustrated” after spending years trying to get a meeting with public works. He said taking a left turn off Reeves Street is a challenge every day and with regular traffic back-ups, he said it will be worse as more tourists come to the town.
Responding to promises from public works that they will do traffic counting this summer, Town Councillor Blaine MacQuarrie said that should have been done last year, and like his colleagues said the motion is more an expression of their “frustration” at the inaction of the province.
Before she voted “no” to the motion, Mayor Brenda Chisholm-Beaton said the town has agreements in place and money has been budgeted for Active Transportation projects that will be jeopardized if the decision is made by the province to return to a 4-lane configuration, a point that was confirmed by the CAO.
Related to the motion, the town will send a letter to the Minister of Public Works that has been reviewed and approved by council explaining their decision.