It’s wet here. And windy sometimes. And snowy sometimes. The inclement weather can cause roads and sidewalks to deteriorate over the course of the year.
Your local government works to keep streets and sidewalks in top shape. The municipality provides the following maintenance services for streets and sidewalks from May–November, during construction season. Public safety hazards are dealt with as quickly as possible.
To report a maintenance issue, call 3-1-1.
Maintenance services provided by the municipality
In the Halifax area, maintenance services include:
- sidewalk maintenance
- street sweeping
- litter pick-up
- leaf pick-up
- asphalt patching, gravel road and guide rail maintenance.
Street maintenance
Though improving the safety of public areas is the main focus of street maintenance, the municipality puts in additional effort to improve functionality, public services, and aesthetic streetscapes.
Potholes
The municipality repairs potholes in your area based on a simple priority system.
High-priority potholes are any with a depth of more than 8 cm. Staff will repair these potholes as follows:
- Main arterial roads: within 7 business days
- Major collector roads: within 7 business days
- Minor collector roads: within 14 business days
- Local roads: within 30 business days
- Potholes with a depth of less than 8 cm are filled as resources permit.
In addition to working around weather, the municipality sometimes has to wait for hot asphalt permits to complete repairs.
Gravel roads
Gravel roads can degrade and develop ruts and potholes over time due to the freeze-thaw cycle and regular traffic. Ruts can be smoothed out with proper grading. Minor potholes can be graded out, but larger ones must be filled with gravel.
The annual grading program repairs major defects and staff respond throughout spring, summer and fall to repair specific issues.
Road shoulders
Shoulder wash-outs are common in Nova Scotia due to wet weather events. Wash-outs that pose a hazard are typically repaired within 24 hours of being identified (once the wet weather has ended). Municipal staff respond to all other wash-outs based on severity and as resources and conditions permit.
General shoulder repairs, maintenance, and upgrades happens in the spring after weight restrictions are lifted and when weather conditions permit. The municipality carries out planned shouldering work throughout the summer.
Sidewalk maintenance
The Halifax region has 850 kilometres of sidewalks. To ensure that every meter is safe for pedestrians, the municipality performs routine maintenance on sidewalks from April–November. This includes:
Grinding concrete distortions
Greater than 1.25 inches: within 7 business days
Less than 1.25 inches: as resources permit
Patching asphalt distortions
Greater than 1.25 inches: within 7 business days
Less than 1.25 inches: as resources permit
Replacing concrete as resources and budget permits, except immediate hazards
Curb and gutter maintenance
The municipality makes repairs to damaged, deteriorated, or heaved sections of curb and gutters systematically. Curbs and gutters that present hazards are top priority; all other secondary repairs are made subject to the availability of resources.
Pedestrian ramp maintenance
Staff of the municipality work to eliminate potentially hazardous ramps and repair or install new ramps with asphalt when weather conditions and resources permit.
Leaf pick-up
Leaf removal from municipal streets is a one-time-only service and rolls out on a street-by-street basis in the heavily treed areas of the Halifax region.
You can place excess leaves from your yard in heavy paper bags for collection as part of your green cart collection. Place leaf bags beside your green cart for collection.