Upset with the state of an important connector road into Elsipogtog First Nation, a group of elders took matters into their own hands this week.
About a dozen people shovelled dirt and rock from the back of a pickup truck into potholes on Graham Road — craters, they say, that have made the road unsafe to travel and impede the movement of emergency vehicles.
James Augustine, one of the elders shovelling on Tuesday and Wednesday, said roads in the community are “absolutely the worst roads in Canada, right here.”
Augustine, 70, initiated the act, which is part community improvement project and part protest geared to “embarrass the leaders into doing something.”
“I’ve been hoping that the leadership would act and lead because they don’t seem to be concerned about these things,” Augustine said. “You know, it’s very, very important to us, as elders, that these roads are repaired.”
The group’s focus is on Graham Road, a three-kilometre stretch that runs from Route 116 to Bridge Road and connects the First Nation to nearby communities. The road, one of two connections to Route 116, has not been reconstructed in 30 years, the elders say.
Instead, crews usually patch the holes in the late summer, they say, only to see them open again months later during the freeze-thaw cycle.
Petition circulated
The group circulated a petition calling for the road to be rebuilt. It has about 400 signatures.
“It’s a thoroughfare not only for the reservation but municipalities outlying the reservation and its full of potholes,” said Taz Bouchier, who was also part of the group shovelling.
“The potholes are craters.”
Bouchier said it can affect response times for emergency vehicles, which must slow down to a crawl in some areas.
The potholes also do a number on personal vehicles, said Henry Augustine. He said he just spent $1,700 to repair his truck.
Bouchier and Augustine said government, be it the band council or province, needs to take action.
“If the elders can do it, why can’t you, the government of Big Cove [Elsipogtog First Nation], do something about it?” Henry Augustine said.
Whose road is it?
There is some debate, however, over who should fix the road.
The Department of Transportation is responsible for the first 394 metres from Route 116. From there it, the department said, the remainder of the road falls under federal jurisdiction.
A department spokesperson directed CBC News to Indigenous Services Canada, which has yet to respond.
The province will conduct routine maintenance and pothole patching on its portion of Graham Road this month, the spokesperson said.
Long-term fix
Kent North MLA Kevin Arseneau, the provincial representative for the First Nation, said the province and the band council should meet to discuss a long-term solution.
“First Nations are New Brunswickers also,” said the Green MLA, who signed the petition. “It’s not because it’s on a reserve that New Brunswick doesn’t have anything to do it with it.
“This road is really different from the others. It’s not a residential road … It’s a road that’s used by many people, and I think that, at this point, what’s very important is that provincial [government] and band council sit together and start talking about this.”
The road is in “an unacceptable state,” Arseneau said
“It’s definitely the worst road in Kent County.”