No timeline yet for work to begin on road connecting N.B. communities
Little has changed since CTV News last visited the site of a road closure on New Brunswick's Route 106 just over a month ago.
It’s the main link between the communities of Sackville, N.B., and Dorchester, N.B., but heavy rains in late March damaged the culvert causing the closure on April 1.
There is a detour on a nearby secondary road, but it’s narrow and parts of it are in rough shape.
Residents in the area want the culvert fixed and are frustrated work has yet to begin.
Darlene Turner is the manager of Gitpu Tobacco and Gas, which is located just a few kilometres away from the closure.
“It impacts us a lot. Even deliveries are late because they have to go all the way around too,” said Turner. “The sales have been impacted a great deal. If everyone’s going around, they’re not going by.”
Richard Robichaud-Logan lives in Memramcook, N.B., and said the detour is a bit of a hassle for him.
“Everything from travel distance to work, to leaving early, to gas prices. It’s a big impact not only on myself but a lot of people in the community too,” said Robichaud-Logan.
A section of Route 106 in New Brunswick, which links Sackville and Dorchester, is seen in a picture taken on May 6, 2024.
Dorchester resident Geoffrey Hargreaves is also frustrated and is worried about the safety of people in the area.
“The impact of the road being closed on me personally is the wear and tear on my car, the cost of gasoline and the extra time,” said Hargreaves. “If somebody gets sick or hurt around here, it’s going to take a lot longer for the ambulance and stuff to get to them.”
Nicole Porter is the Mi’kmaq cultural coordinator at nearby Fort Folly First Nation.
She said the community is planning a fundraising event to raise money for an upcoming youth powwow.
“We want the public to come out and support that, support our bake sales, support our youth,” said Porter. “That is up in the air on how successful that will be. Also, for National Indigenous People’s Day coming June 21, we’re now having it here in the community instead of Sackville. We’re inviting guests to come, but they’re going to have to detour around if this road doesn’t get fixed.”
According to NB 511, the provincial website that updates residents on traffic and construction projects, the government is anticipating work will be completed by May 31, but it hasn’t been updated since April 2.
“They’ve put May 31 on the website, but I don’t think that is likely at this point,” said Megan Mitton, the MLA for Tantramar-Memramcook. “We don’t know how long it’s going to take. It would be nice to have that information.”
The Green MLA said her constituents are concerned and the detour is a major inconvenience for them.
“It’s closed for the foreseeable future. It is inconvenient for travelling. There’s concerns about safety. I think there’s worry about the oncoming tourism season,” said Mitton.
Mitton said she’s spoken with the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DTI) about the repair work and has urged them, without cutting corners on safety, to see how things can move faster.
“This is a priority,” she said.
DTI spokesperson Jason Hoyt said plans are still being discussed for a replacement culvert.
"However there is currently no timeline for work to commence," he said in an email.
Hoyt said there a signed detour available using Woodlawn and King roads and motorists can continue to get updates by checking NB 511.
For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canadian immigration asks medical worker fleeing Gaza if he treated Hamas fighters
Lawyers are questioning Canada’s approach to screening visa applications for people in Gaza with extended family in Canada after one applicant, a medical worker, was asked whether he had treated members of Hamas.
Helicopter carrying Iran's president suffers a 'hard landing,' state TV says without further details
A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a "hard landing" on Sunday, Iranian state television reported, without immediately elaborating.
What we've learned so far in the Trump hush money trial and what to watch for as it wraps up
Testimony in the hush money trial of Donald Trump is set to conclude in the coming days, putting the landmark case on track for jury deliberations that will determine whether it ends in a mistrial, an acquittal — or the first-ever felony conviction of a former American president.
Walmart, Costco refusing to sign grocery code of conduct 'untenable': industry minister
Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says it's 'untenable' for 'smaller players' like Walmart and Costco to delay signing on to the government- and industry-led grocery code of conduct, now that industry giant Loblaw has agreed to do so.
The Israel-Hamas war is testing whether campuses are sacrosanct places for speech and protest
Administrators on some campuses have called in local police to break up pro-Palestinian protesters demanding that their schools divest from Israel in demonstrations that Israel's allies say are antisemitic and make campuses unsafe. From Columbia University in New York to the University of California, Los Angeles, thousands of students and faculty have been arrested in the past month.
Slovak prime minister's condition remains serious but prognosis positive after assassination bid
Slovakia’s populist prime minister, Robert Fico, remained in serious condition on Sunday but has been given a positive prognosis four days after he was shot multiple times in an assassination attempt that has sent shockwaves across the deeply polarized European Union nation, the defense minister said.
The secret Italian lakes that most tourists don't know about
Italy has dozens of secret smaller lakes that boast superb scenery, unknown to mass tourism, where locals get together on day trips and enjoy picnics.
Sentencing trial set to begin for Florida man who executed 5 women at a bank in 2019
Zephen Xaver walked into a central Florida bank in 2019, fatally shot five women and then called police to tell them what he did. Now 12 jurors will decide whether the 27-year-old former prison guard trainee is sentenced to death or life without parole.
Signs of Alzheimer’s were everywhere. Then his brain improved
Blood biomarkers of telltale signs of early Alzheimer’s disease in the brain of his patient, 55-year-old entrepreneur Simon Nicholls, had all but disappeared in a mere 14 months.