Impassable Sunrise Trail in N.S. causing headaches for tourists, businesses

The popular Sunrise Trail along the Northumberland Strait in Nova Scotia is typically a popular tourist spot, but a collapsed wooden culvert is causing problems this year.

The culvert between the community of Tidnish and Amherst Shore collapsed this past spring. The province said numerous environmental-related permits and approvals are needed to repair it. They expect it to be fixed by the end of September.

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Brian and Shelley Tanner, the owners of a bed and breakfast in Lorneville, say the detour created by the blocked road is hurting their business.

“We do have a lot of traffic because (of) Prince Edward Island. The bridge is 45 minutes from here, one hour-and-a-half to Charlottetown, Summerside or Cavendish. People come here, they enjoy Nova Scotia, then they’ll pop over to the Island and continue on,” Brian Tanner said. “We don’t get that now because they’ll drive right past us.

"Everytime somebody calls us, we have to go through a 10-minute explanation as to whether they'd like to go on a rock-filled road or we can give them a paved road, but it's going to take you way out of your way to get back."

“There’s several restaurants, farms that depend on people coming for their products,” said Shelley Tanner. “Our local stores, all of them depend on all of the traffic that comes through.

A collapsed culvert along the Sunrise Trail in Nova Scotia is pictured. (Josh Smith/CTV Atlantic)

MLA Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin said a temporary bridge over the culvert could be a solution, but the province says it’s not feasible because the culvert is an environmentally-sensitive area.

“This is the evacuation route for all Nova Scotians if the infrastructure fails on the Isthmus, and we know that is a possibility,” Smith-McCrossin said. “Hurricane season has already started. We have a lot of back gravel roads and people are getting lost.

"I just came from a meeting in town, and somebody there told me that they came out and didn't know the back roads and they were lost and they're from Cumberland County. So think about tourists that are coming here who don't know the back roads. It's very frustrating. The people here want to see this fix right away."

With files from CTV Atlantic's Josh Smith

For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.