Some residents of Shelburne County are upset that Lockeport Town Council has neglected to repair a damaged train trestle, one of just two ways to access the town.
They held a town hall meeting Friday night to ask councillors to fix the walkway -- a bridge currently off-limits -- because of its state of disrepair.
The damage means residents of Lockeport only have one way to get on and off the peninsula.
The historic train trestle, which connects a walking trail to the north side of the peninsula, has been closed for 10 months after it was deemed unsafe.
Residents are upset that there are still no plans to repair the trestle.
“It's important to people of Lockeport, not only as transportation across, but the social aspect,” said Terry Stacey. “People walk here every day. To find it’s been closed, without at least taking a look at other options and exploring everything, it just seems to be a waste.”
The town installed chain-link fence gates and no trespassing signs to keep people out, but Shelburne RCMP say they have been removed twice by vandals in the last three weeks.
“As we started walking and talking with people, we realized it was important to a lot of people,” said Darlene MacIntosh. “So, we decided to have a meeting, and then we're going to the town to see what we can do instead of having the vandalism.”
MacIntosh says the trestle serves as much more than just a bridge to the community.
“We have children fishing, we have families jogging together here, this is so important mentally and physically that I consider it priceless,” she said. “When I stand here and look at the water and take a breath, it makes me thank God I live where I live.”
The community hopes Friday's town meeting will help council understand how much they value having more than one way out of Lockeport.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Allan April.
