Roads and road maintenance are a surprisingly complicated issue. A lot goes into the decisions that are made regarding roads and road maintenance. The board will post here regularly on all issues regarding roads. As always, you can contact the board at meekarmcoveboard@gmail.com.
Interested in learning more about how are Meek Arm roads are maintained? Take a look at The Art and Science of Gravel Road Maintenance.
We do NOT maintain Nature Drive, the paved road. That is a public road and winter maintenance on that road is done by the province. You can go to the Plow Tracker at novascotia.ca/tran/winter/plowtracker.asp to see where they are in their cleanup after snow and ice events.
This page will attempt to describe more recent events to keep residents up to date on recent road maintenance decisions. For the detailed reasons behind road maintenance decisions, please read the document posted above, The Art and Science of Gravel Road Maintenance. The snow plow contract is to not allow more than 10cm of snow be on the road at any time and plow automatically if there is 5cm or more. If we get less than 5cm of snow, we have to look at the conditions of the road, if the road is frozen or not, look at the forecast weather and make a decision if we want the roads plowed. If we do, we call the plow contractor. We only get sand put on the ice if we call and ask for it. If it is raining or if snow is expected within a few hours, any sand put down will be wasted as the rain or snow plowing operation will take it off. We also have to balance the desires of the community. Keeping the roads free from ice for walking is more expensive than keeping it sufficient for driving. Some people want lower condo fees and don't walk the roads, others walk the roads.
POT HOLES, GRADING AND DUST CONTROL
19 November 2025 - Wednesday - As there is a forecast of dry weather for the next few days, the rest of the potholes have been filled.
27 March 2026 - Friday - Winter maintenance is probably behind us now and so the next to deal with are the potholes and spring grading. With the rain forecast this coming week, it is currently too wet to fill pot holes and expect the repair to last more than a few days.
SPRING GRADING will not be done until May after the SPRING WEIGHT RESTRICTIONS are off the roads as hauling gravel during the weight restrictions is much more expensive due to the fact that trucks cannot be fully loaded. Even after the weight restrictions are off, we may have to wait a bit longer for the moisture conditions to be right for grading.
DUST CONTROL will be done a few days after spring grading. Two pallets are planned this year like in 2024. Only one pallet was put down last year, but after, it was determined that it was too soon to reduce to one pallet. After several years of two pallet application, we should be able to reduce to one pallet again.
SNOW and ICY CONDITIONS
Reminder that there are four sand bins in the community at the base of all the hills. These can be used if you need more traction to get up a hill.
25 March 2026 - Wednesday - 7:15 PM Temp 2.1 C. Sunny. It snowed about 2 cm this morning covering all the roads but the warm temperatures and sun has melted it. All roads bare. The washout on Sagebrush Drive past our community is now two lanes again but still very rough.