Long time local Karl Schaer has lived at the top of Ring Creek Road for 42 years and says he's dealt with his fair share of road issues.
But he'd had enough when he read about the "patting on the back" for Ring Creek Road repairs that took place at the Committee of the Whole meeting on July 6.
"I would like to commend staff on getting it repaired so quickly," said Mayor Greg Gardner during the meeting, nearly seven months after a landslide had rendered the road impassable.
Delays in repairing the road occurred because there was some confusion over who owned the land, according to the mayor and engineering manager Brian Barnett.
But Shaer scoffed at the reason.
"I knew the road was on municipal land because the district has always done any repairs to the road," he said.
Shaer said residents were not only hindered by long delays, but when repairs were finally done, the work was poor.
"It took way too long to get this road repaired," said Shaer. "And I'm no expert, but I do know whether I should drive on a road. When the potholes are that deep and there are boulders the size of Easter eggs rolling all over, a road needs to be repaired, not just the landslide section, the whole thing."
On June 15, after a five-month delay spent determining whether the road was on Crown or municipal land, Barnett announced the district was the confirmed landowner and asked for funding to begin the repair as soon as possible.
"It will cost $25,000 to re-open the road and we are prepared to move forward immediately," said Barnett.
Council agreed and a motion to allocate $25,000 from the road construction budget passed unanimously.
Schaer said he's not only frustrated roadwork takes too long, but he also believes they would never happen without complaints.
"It's their responsibility to take care of the roads but they always do it as a last resort," he said. "The repairs or improvements never happen on their own, we always have to complain and even then, particularly on this road [Ring Creek Road], they always tend to pull a fast one."
He called the repair a "terrible job" and said $25,000 should have been enough to do more than just fix the landslide.
"It takes the same time to do a decent job as it does to do a bad job," he said. "It's terrible - just drive up there see for yourself."
Thirteen-year Ring Creek resident, Kim Scobie, said the problem is that part of the road is single lane with limited visibility, and called it "dangerous and undependable."
Gardner said he was not aware of complaints, and none had been addressed to the district, however, he added, "We never said we were upgrading the condition of the road, only getting it open."
Coun. Doug Race said on Tuesday (July 20) he was surprised someone was complaining about the road.
"I was on it yesterday," he said, "and it's a good road."
The Ring Creek Road closure had caused numerous problems over the past several months, mainly because industrial traffic was using the only other access road to the same area, The Boulevard.
The Boulevard has several roundabouts that are difficult for large trucks to manoeuvre, although according to Barnett, it is possible for larger trucks to drive slightly over the centre island thanks to a rollover curb.
