PORT HOOD: A long-awaited meeting of the minds took place earlier this month as the members of Inverness Municipal Council shared a table with Geoff MacLellan, the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal.
“It was a good meeting,” said Warden Betty Ann MacQuarrie. “We were prepared, and they were positive on quite a few things.
“We gave the minister and the area managers a document of our issues, and we met for over two hours.
“We all had issues, but the one common thread was the lack of maintenance on gravel roads in Inverness County. That was the main thread in common for every district.”
The meeting had been postponed a couple of times. MacQuarrie said she and her councillors, along with Chief Administrative Officer Joe O’Connor and director of public works Garett Beaton, were happy to finally meet with the minister and his managers. O’Connor and Beaton were also at the meeting.
Some of the specific concerns brought to MacLellan were the states of Cranton Crossroads Bridge, the Crowdis Bridge, Valley Mills Bridge, Captain’s River Bridge, and the bridge in Stewartdale.
Guardrail repairs and replacements were also mentioned to the minister, as well as crosswalks and installing yellow lights at certain intersections. Crosswalks have always made for frustrating conversation between councillors and the province, as the criteria needed to have crosswalks installed is tricky, considering much of Inverness County runs along Route 19, a thoroughfare.
“Maybe they don’t want to approve them for many reasons like there’s no safe refuge on the other side or there’s a hill blocking vision,” the warden said. “They have criteria to go by, and sometimes we just have to understand that.”
Lack of funding for DTIR projects is also something council has to appreciate. She said members of council understand that MacLellan has his own set of challenges and it’s better to have a good working relationship with the department than to start a fight.
“We’re not dictating to the minister,” MacQuarrie said. “We’re acting as a liaison for the citizens who call us. We’re advocating for them, and if we don’t react to the calls of our constituents, they won’t feel like they’re represented.”
Inquiries can always be directed to the DTIR itself, and those wishing to call the department can contact staff at 1-888-432-3233.