Darlings Island residents hope survey work signals road flooding fix

Residents of Darlings Island are hopeful some recent work by surveyors in the communitymeans the New Brunswick government is willing to fix the only road onto the island, which is prone tofloodingduring the spring thaw.

But Department of Transportation and Infrastructure officials say they have no immediate plans to repair the road, and are just studying what it might take to fix the problem.

Darlings Island Roadhas often disappeared beneath flood waters in the spring, leaving people with no way to get off the island by vehicle.

In March, the provincial governmentannounced it wouldn't provide a shuttle boatto and from the island, located near Saint John,if the road flooded.

That prompted residents to submit a petition to fix the road, says Brad Slipp, president of the NauwigewaukCommunity Club.

"The people here are hopeful that that's going to be put higher on the priority list than maybe what has been in the past, and that maybe something can get done here, whether it's this year or next year," Slippsaid.

Seeing spray paint left behind by surveyors is encouraging to Tony Wong, who has lived on Darlings Island since 1992.

"The fact that they're looking at it, I would tend to believe it's going to be a positive step," he said. "I saw some stakes down on the trees indicating some height [assessments], so hopefully there's some progress being made."

Wong says since 2007, five spring thaws caused flood waters from the KennebecasisRiver to cover the only access road to the island, leaving it impassable.

"This spring, actually, was good. About three-quarters of the road was covered, but they didn't actually close it. It was closed last year and two years before that, consecutive years, so that makes it difficult," Wong said.

"When most of us moved out here, some of us were unaware that [flooding] was ever an issue and also it poses a danger in the event someone needed an ambulance, they'd be trapped."

In past years, the province has provided a shuttle boat to get people to and from the islandwhen it gets cut off, due to flooding.

But in the spring, Environment and Local Government Minister Brian Kennysaid the service was being discontinued, due to safety concerns.