Everyone in Haliburton affected by the delays to repairing Bayshore Road following flooding is unhappy.

The residents wanted the township to provide details for the delays and an expected timeline for completion if not be more active in moving the repair work forward. Dysart et al representatives said the supplier Armtec has delayed delivery of the necessary culvert and headwalls. Contracted to perform the work Hawk River Construction agreed with the municipality and said delivery issues caused them to move equipment and workers (after the culvert was put in on June 15) to another site until the headwalls were delivered. Some heavy equipment returned to Bayshore Road on June 21.

The road was washed out on May 2 and traffic has been diverted through Glebe Park since then.

Some of the inconveniences included driving delays a long drive to the post box and vehicles partially obstructing access at Fleming College through Glebe Park due to a lack of signage.

Gail Scott a 76-year-old resident living less than 100 metres from the damaged portion of Bayshore Road said she and residents like her felt they were left in the dark. (The municipality said some residents had phoned them and there was also information available on their website as well as social media.)

She understands she could have called the municipality but wanted someone to reach out whether it was with a letter or notice in the newspaper.

“Anyone can accept an apology very easily. All they have to do is say that they are so sorry that it’s taken this long” she said.

“It’s like anybody. If you make an appointment for somebody and you arrive a half-an-hour later what is the first thing you do? You apologize for keeping that person waiting. Because there are all kinds of reasons that they can’t make a specific date but all they have to do is explain it to the neighbourhood one way or another.”

Councillor Nancy Wood-Roberts who represents the ward that includes Bayshore Road sympathized with her constituents but shared their frustration.

“We have been dismayed by the responses of the supplier on several occasions during this important project regarding the delivery of materials. I don’t think sending a letter would have been very helpful as I or the municipality would have not be able to give any accurate information” she wrote in an email believing a “weekly update” on the township website may have helped. She adds the high water levels after the washout the scope of the damage requiring an engineer’s assessment and the hiring of a contractor contributed to the delays.

Dysart Reeve Murray Fearrey said the municipality believed the work was to be completed as of June 23.

They did what they felt was best he said.

“I sincerely believe that if we had ever thought it would have taken this long we would have written letters” he wrote in a text message.

Changing suppliers on a partly completed project could cause greater delays he said.

Armtec did not specifically address why the culvert was delayed but said the headwall delays are attributed to the discovery of new requirements wrote Armtec’s communication and branding manager Kevin Shea.

Hawk River owner Larry Hewitt who was disappointed by Armtec’s dealings said there are four baskets which are filled with stone and help secure the side of the road left to be delivered for everything to be complete. They were expected Friday morning. After an email Monday morning there has not been an explanation from Armtec he said.

Hewitt said once the baskets come the job will take up to three days.

“It won’t be a full two-lane road [like before]. It will be narrowed until we get the baskets in. God only knows when that’s going to show up” he said.

Note: Close to eight days after the Echo started asking questions Bayshore Road was nearly ready for traffic with a few minor aspects left to complete by Hawk River Construction at a later date. The baskets have not been delivered. Hewitt said the repairs would allow traffic to access a lane and a half by Monday evening.