Martyn Williams: Letter to Kim Masland, minister of Public Works, and Premier Tim Houston
Martyn Williams on all that’s missing from the mandate letter of newly appointed Public Works minister Kim Masland.
Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal
Martyn Williams: New rules of the road: Public feedback invited until January 8
The Nova Scotia government is asking for public feedback by January 8 on 65 pages of regulations which will dictate how roads should be used by the public, and also potentially allow for some safer controls and infrastructure for vulnerable road users. Martyn Williams has some excellent suggestions.
Make saving human lives rather than traffic flow the priority in the new Traffic Safety Act
In Nova Scotia pedestrians and cyclists are particularly vulnerable to accidents. It doesn’t need to be that way, writes Martyn Williams. There are things we can do beyond increasing some fines, other countries have done so, and it is paying off.
Danny Cavanagh: Privatizing Highway 104 maintenance – A battle is brewing
Danny Cavanagh: “Snow and ice control and maintenance will be contracted out to a private company. This raises questions and concerns about the long-term cost of a new P3 highway for taxpayers. It’s essentially déjà vu, and it’s more than likely that we will be providing a hefty profit to corporate elite bank coffers and in the end will get inferior service.”
Amid allegations of silencing Windsor Causeway remains contentious
The contentious issue of twinning of the 101 near the Town of Windsor is still alive. Some folks believe it is time to get rid of the causeway and build a bridge, but they have a hard time getting heard at municipal councils, they say.
The oil well that government forgot
Ken Summers reports on the abandoned oil well in Cogmagun, Hants County. It is still not cleaned up 14 years later. Triangle Petroleum is on the hook for cleanup costs, but it’s facing bankruptcy in the US and it got a pretty sweet deal from the province. It will pay nothing.
Fracking company leaves province with the cleanup
Ten years after Nova Scotia enticed Triangle Petroleum to experiment with hydraulic fracturing for shale gas in Kennetcook, Hants County, the company walked away and it’s the province that is cleaning up the mess left behind. The province is unwilling to explain what deal it made.