YOU KNOW it’s spring when bright yellow starts appearing around town. No, not the daffodils or lapel pins being sold by the Canadian Cancer Society (although this is also a sure sign that spring has sprung). The yellow in question comes from repainting curbs that mark no parking and other locations.
That work also marks the unofficial start of the local street repair and construction season.
The freeze-thaw cycle this past winter has been hard on roads with numerous potholes resulting from water penetrating a road’s surface and then expanding when it freezes to create a network of spiderweb-type cracks.
One of the worst streets (if you can even call it that) is the 4500 Block of Scott off Kalum just north of the courthouse.
One huge pothole that would challenge the best of any entry at a monster truck rally lies in wait for the unsuspecting driver who has just turned onto the block from Kalum. The rest of the street is a mess as well.
That’s why it’s good to see that the city is going to rebuild this section of Scott as one of its major projects for the year. This is one of the poorer neighbourhoods in the city but the people who live there deserve the same kind of roads and sidewalks as anyone else.
Barring a budget miracle, the city is never going to fix all of its bad roads. A rebuilt 4500 Block of Scott, however, is a huge step forward.