Dear Editor:
Has anybody had the displeasure of driving down York Lake Road recently? How do you think the people who live on the road feel when they have to try to dodge all the potholes and broken pavement several times a day. At this point no matter how carefully you try to drive to avoid one pothole, you end up hitting another one. There are many people who have driven on York Lake Road who have talked about broken rims, broken shocks, cracked wind shields, wheel alignments, etc. We understand that there are many other roads this Spring that need repair but none are as populated as York Lake Road. When you call the Councillor of the RM to address the situation, his response is that the Grain Millers road is more important and they have no time to put any equipment on York Lake Road to maintain or repair it. The residents know how dangerous the road is but there are no caution signs posted to alert the visiting public, such as the many large campers, of the road conditions. The Councillor's response to the absence of any caution signs was that they told the maintenance man six weeks ago to put up signs and he never did it. That is the same person who thought he did such a good job of it last summer! Imagine if you didn't know the condition of the road and were driving on it in the dark, it would be very dangerous. It's surprising no one has lost control or rolled their vehicle. Hopefully an emergency response vehicle would not have to come down the road in a hurry because it would be too late given the fact that it takes too long to drive down the road safely.
If you call the RM of Orkney about the issue, their unprofessional response is that the residents complain too much. When asked what they will do to fix the road, the Councillor's response is that they are putting together a letter which will be issued sometime in June to the residents of York Lake Road regarding the options. At this rate, seeing as nothing has been done to fix the road in the past 2 months, it is likely that nothing will happen until Fall time. High traffic includes not only the residents of the road but also the many visitors to the Gun Club, Trap Club, Kayak Club, slow pitch and softball diamonds, York Lake campground, nature trail, boat launch, and the list goes on. In closing, how much longer do we have to travel on York Lake Road in these conditions and how much longer do we have to deal with an RM that doesn't care? At a minimum, the biggest potholes should be patched and the worst stretches should be flagged for caution.
Sincerely,
Cliff Leshchyshyn
Resident of
York Lake Road
