The main gateway to Killbear Park in Carling Township has become “unsafe” and residents are demanding the province do something about it.
Driving up and down the bumpy Highway 559, you can feel loose gravel and potholes. The condition of the road has left some afraid to use it.
“It's a disaster waiting to happen because the edges of the roads have basically disintegrated,” says councillor Susan Murphy.
The township estimates more than 3,000 vehicles used the road in July and August alone. Murphy says it’s a miracle nobody's been killed.
“These huge vehicles are hugging the centre line. You've got one coming one way, one coming the other way and then you have some cyclists coming around the corner.”
An attempt last month to fix the problem has only made it worse. Rather than paying several million dollars to fix it, the township says the Ministry of Transportation has used one Band-Aid solution after another.
“Extremely dangerous. People are very disturbed, they’re upset, they're irate,” says Mayor Mike Konoval.
Reps from the ministry in charge of maintaining Highway 559 faced angry residents concerned for their safety. The ministry admits they're not pleased with how last month's repairs turned out and admit more needs to be done.
This time they'll be repairing the culverts by pulverizing the entire road in the construction area.
The mayor and council suggest if the job isn’t done right, they'll be left with no other option but heading to Queen's Park in early September to ensure the repairs are done properly.
