News Aggregates Roads & Paving
Critical repairs underway on Cape Breton roadway

JAMESVILLE, N.S. – Following years of accidents and dangerous conditions, a section of Route 223 in Cape Breton’s Victoria County is receiving much-needed repairs.

The section of the route surrounding Bras d’Or Lake, which is heavily travelled through during the summer months, has been responsible for significant vehicular damages stemming from pavement breakage and an emerging sinkhole, said Victoria County Councillor Paul MacNeil.

“Locals knew what to do, but the tourists and people just going through the area for the first time wouldn’t slow down through there and basically they would either go airborne or off the side of the road,” MacNeil said. “It was a really dangerous area.”

Workers from the Department of Public Works were sent last week to tear up the section of the road in preparation for levelling and paving work on the problem section. The Department of Public Works stated that a contractor will be working in the area over the coming weeks.

This wear and tear comes from a gypsum deposit that runs underneath the road and into the local community. The material’s softness causes easy erosion, making sinkholes a prevalent issue. Due to the effects of this deposit on the roadway, MacNeil believes building a bridge over this deposit to be the only real long-term solution.

These repairs have become more urgent with increased traffic from the reopening of a nearby gypsum quarry in the community of Little Narrows, MacNeil said.