The
freezing and thawing weather patterns of this winter have left a number
of county roads in extremely poor condition, and the county’s public
works department is working on it. 

 

“You
might have noticed that some of our roads are potholing and heaving,”
public works director Craig Douglas told councillors on the county’s
roads advisory committee during a March 13 meeting. 

“I’m
curious why staff and council’s authority doesn’t extend to the weather
so we could remedy that,” said Minden Hills Mayor Brent Devolin. “I
have a couple of constituents who have that question on their mind.” 

 

One
of the worst affected county-owned roads has been South Lake Road,
which extends between County Road 1 and Highway 35 in Minden. 

“That’s
an easy one to cover, because we are spending money to resurface that,”
Douglas said. “Not all the roads are getting resurfaced that are
blowing out.” 

Douglas said the road conditions are being caused by freezing and thawing. 

“The water’s freezing in those cracks . . . thaws, freezes, pops out,” he said. 

 

There’s
been significant heaving and potholing on County Road 10 and some on
County Road 21 between Haliburton Village and Minden, which is normally
not very affected by such conditions because of the high grade of the
road. 

“It’s a former highway . . . it’s starting to heave a little bit,” Douglas said.  

 

On
Glamorgan Road, “the usual spots are coming back,” Douglas said,
adding, “We’re working to repave the southern portion and get rid of the
freeze, thaw in there . . . and get rid of the water to make that road a
little happier.” 

“I have no control
over the weather either,” Douglas said, adding that winters with
freeze/thaw patterns are likely to become the new normal.