New Brunswick

One of region's worst roads gets repairs, but not enough, says resident

Some repairs have been done on a road widely known as one of the worst in Atlantic Canada, but a local resident said problems remain.

Some paving is done by original company, but other areas are left behind

Route 616 has been patched in places, but Lloyd Maurey, a Keswick Ridge resident, is concerned it hasn't been completely resurfaced. (Lloyd Maurey)

Some repairs have been done on Route 616, a road widely known as one of the worst in Atlantic Canada, but one local resident says problems remain.

Earlier this year, the road running through Keswick Ridge, west of Fredericton, was named the worst road in Atlantic Canada by CAA because of deteriorating asphalt and numerous pot holes. 

Route 616 was to be repaired by June, and Lloyd Maurey, a Keswick Ridge resident, said some work has been done.

But it's been spotty.

"They ended up doing about a half of a kilometre, and then they stopped, then they moved on 50 feet, then they paved another 100 feet,"

"There's many areas of the road where they didn't touch anything at all."

While work on this highway has been mixed, according to Maurey, the government has been resurfacing highways that don't need to be resurfaced.

"Out in Tay Creek … it's a pretty good highway … they were resurfacing it,"

"Why are they resurfacing this? It's actually in pretty good shape."

Warranty

Potholes littered Route 616 after its first taste of winter in 2017. (Gary Moore/CBC)

The province told the community at a local service district annual meeting in April that Route 616 would be repaired by the end of June.

Maurey said the province told the meeting the deteriorating work was under warranty and the firm that previously resurfaced the road would be doing the work again.

But according to Maurey, the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure has been on site patching the road before the original contractor arrives.

He's concerned this means taxpayers are paying for repairs that should've been done by the original contractor.

"If this is warranty work, why isn't [the company] out here doing this?" Maurey asked.

"Who's paying for this?"

Response

Maurey, shown here after Route 616 made the worst roads list, said he's seen a lot of damage done to vehicles, including his own, because of the road. (CBC News)

CBC News asked the department for comment on Route 616 but didn't receive a response.

Maurey said he doesn't mean to complain but wants the road fixed.

He said he's seen plenty of damage done to vehicles because of the state of the road, even to his own.

"This morning, actually, the taillight of my truck shook out,"

"It's bad."