'A mucky mess': Digby County woman fed up with local road

Jessica Cromwell was metres from her Weymouth Falls, N.S., driveway with two of her children on Saturday when the wheels of her minivan slid into a deep rut.

With her tires sunk in mud up to the bottom of her door, she knew she and her children had to abandon their vehicle.

Her boyfriend, who has a truck with four-wheel drive, eventually towed it free, but only after first pulling a friend's van out of a rut on the opposite side of the road.

Cromwell said the Yarmouth Road has been in "absolutely horrible" shape since the weather warmed up and the ground started to thaw.

"It's a mucky mess. It's not graded. There are potholes everywhere," she said.

'I was losing parts off my van'

Cromwell said she was trying to avoid a pothole when she slid into the rut on the left side of the road. Her friend was stuck on the right side after having tried to avoid a pothole.

"I was stuck right up to the doors. When they actually pulled me out, I was losing parts off my van," said Cromwell.

She said the road only gets passing attention from provincial road crews.

"Either pave the road or have somebody come down the road more ... than just a few times in the spring and a few times in the summer," said Cromwell.

After Saturday's mishap, Cromwell complained to her municipal councillor, who called the transportation department.

Cromwell said a grader came through later, but the road is still "a soppy mess."

'It will take some time' for road hardening

A Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal spokesperson said the spring is a difficult time of year for many gravel roads, especially when the weather swings from cold and snowy to warm and rainy.

Brian Taylor said the recent thaw has softened many roads to the point where weight restrictions were placed on them last week to protect them. He said crews will continue to work on ones that have problems as the weather allows.

"But in the end, it will take some time for the roads to harden enough to properly repair them," he said.