Residents in a Salisbury subdivision will need to wait until next year before a decision is made on fixing a road that has been flooding annually for the past 40 years.
Residents living in the Hilltop subdivision find themselves stranded every spring when McWilliam Road floods due to heavy rain.
The road connects the Hilltop subdivision to the rest of the village.
Salisbury recently released the recommendations from a new study that examined options on how to deal with the annual flooding problems.
But Salisbury Mayor Terry Keating said the village will not move forward with any changes until public meetings can be held next spring.
Salisbury Mayor Terry Keating said public meetings will be held next year on how to deal with McWilliam Road’s frequent flooding problems. (CBC)
“We’ll have a public presentation and get the public involved and see what their thoughts and concerns are on that issue,” he said.
Salisbury Coun. William Wilson said he has concerns about the options that seem to be favoured for fixing the road.
Wilson said a basic emergency access road could be built for about $60,000.
He said he wonders why the village council seems to favour a solution that would see McWilliam Road raised at a cost of more than $800,000.
Wilson and other residents are also wondering why the study was not made available to the public earlier.
The report was received by the village in June, tabled in council in July and only made public in November.
Wilson said he would like action taken and to put an end to the series of studies.
“They’ve done dozens of studies and they all pretty well say the same, why do five or six studies,” he said.
The delay is continuing to frustrate residents, such as Debbie Cole.
Cole has lived in the subdivision since 1988 and the road’s flooding problems have a very direct concern for her family.
“My husband has COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease], if really affects him. If I need an ambulance, I need an ambulance now, and if that road floods, I can’t get him out,” she said.