Spring Roads Update

Winter 2024-2025 in Queens County, Nova Scotia: A Season of Freeze-Thaw Chaos

The winter of 2024-2025 in Queens County was one for the books, marked by unusual freeze-thaw cycles, heavy snowfall mixed with freezing rain and ice pellets, and deep frost (estimated to be 33"). One of the most defining characteristics of the season was the frequent temperature swings. Days often started with frigid mornings, followed by a brief warm-up just enough to trigger melting—only to be hit with rain, then a sudden deep freeze at night. These rapid transitions turned roadways into skating rinks, making travel treacherous and increasing the demand for road sanding and scraping.

On top of these temperature swings, the county saw above-average precipitation, particularly in the form of rain during months that typically see heavier snowfall. While the rainfall helped reduce wildfire risks lingering from last year's dry season, it compounded road damage and worsened drainage issues.

The relentless freeze-thaw cycles and deep frost left many of our roads pockmarked with deep ruts, potholes, and mud. Additionally, the GMLLOA has more full-time residents than ever before. The sheer amount of daily traffic combined with an unprecedented number of service and delivery vehicles resulted in more wear and tear on our roads, increasing maintenance demands.

Looking Ahead

Our North Roads Chair Randall Knox and our dedicated contractors - Shawn Rawding for the south and George Lewis on the north - worked hard to keep up with the weather. Efforts to stabilize road conditions were pushed into overdrive and are ongoing.

• The Narrows Road on the south shore has been a particular challenge this year and south shore lot owners can expect to see some spot grading in the dodgiest places on the Narrows and other roads over the coming days.

• Shale has been placed in the messiest spots on north shore roads and we'll continue to monitor for conditions and complete spot repairs as needed.

The GMLLOA Board is putting together our priorities for summer maintenance and improvements, including culverts, ditching, brushing, road bed upgrades, and others. We'll assess the identified needs against our summer maintenance and capital improvements budgets to ensure that we can continue to improve our roads.

Note that spring weight restrictions are in place until midnight April 27.

What you can do

• Limit scheduled deliveries and, when possible, delay deliveries until after the spring weight restrictions are lifted. While most delivery vehicles are under the weight limit, they do tend to be larger than our own personal vehicles and cause more damage to soft spring roads.

• Continue to use the https://www.gmlloa.ca/report-a-road-issue link to keep us up to date on what's happening in your areas. This is particularly important for south shore lot owners as we have no Road Chair for your area (volunteers are welcome!).

Thanks to all of you who kept us updated on road conditions throughout the winter. Let's hope that we've seen the last snow of 2025!