Residents are raising concerns about the state of Lapland Road in Lunenburg County.

An email chain was started by local residents in early March as the end of winter began revealing the state of the road, which is riddled with potholes and erosion.

In the chain, one resident complained “I’ve traveled to countries with less infrastructure than Canada and they have better roads”, while others criticized the chip seal and patchwork repairs that have been undertaken by Public Works to improve the road.

A gravel section of Lapland Road riddled with potholes and pooling water. Photo: Evan Taylor.

Lapland Deputy Fire Cheif Jeremy MacEachren says the state of the road is impacting the fire department’s ability to respond to calls and calls the chip seal work a “joke”, noting it rarely lasts a year before being washed away.

“We have firefighters that cant pass the road, so they have to take a 20-25 minute detour to the Fire Hall,” said MacEachren. “When were responding to fires or medical calls those 20 minutes can be huge,”.

MacEachren says the Lapland Fire Department has begun noting on their call reports that they had a “delayed response” due to road conditions to ensure the Department of Public Works is aware of the liability.

A paved section of Lapland Road where sections of patchwork are crumbling. Photo: Evan Taylor.

Adding to residents’ frustrations is the fact that other nearby and connecting roads appear to have been given more attention like Garber Road, Woodworth Road and Laconia Road all of which received fresh grading and gravel within recent years. Residents and first responders are now calling on Public Works to give Lapland Road the same level of care as its surrounding roads, so as to make it safely passable.