https://photos.app.goo.gl/9yznoEWnB1qyfbfdA

We are asking the Minister of Public Works to urgently ensure that Trunk 19 between Mabou and Port Hood meets the safe passage standards for vehicles as required by provincial highway standards, and that emergency remediation work be authorized immediately pending a permanent repaving solution.

Trunk 19 between Mabou and Port Hood is in bad shape and getting worse. The potholes along this stretch have moved to the edges of the lanes, forcing drivers to swerve toward the centre of the road to avoid oncoming traffic. This isn't a minor inconvenience - it's a genuine safety hazard that people are dealing with every single day.

This is the Ceilidh Trail, one of Cape Breton's most travelled tourist routes. It isn't just locals navigating these conditions. Visitors in rental cars, cyclists, and people who don't know the road are hitting the same potholes without any local knowledge of where to expect them.
We checked Nova Scotia's own 2026-27 Five-Year Highway Improvement Plan. This stretch of Trunk 19 is not scheduled for repaving until 2030 at the earliest. The road cannot wait that long in its current state.

We are asking Nova Scotia Department of Public Works Minister Fred Tilley, and MLA Kyle MacQuarrie to do two things: authorize emergency patching on the Mabou to Port Hood section of Trunk 19 immediately, and move this stretch up in the repaving schedule before someone gets seriously hurt.

Sign this petition if you drive this road, live along it, or think Nova Scotia's rural highways deserve better.

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Trunk 19 update for anyone following along.

566 signatures on the petition now. Thank you to everyone who signed and shared.

We did get a response from Minister Tilley's office, and there has been some emergency patching done on the road. It's incomplete, so I've followed up today asking when the rest will get done.

One thing worth mentioning -- in his letter, Minister Tilley specifically noted that the petition and community feedback would be shared with the planning team as part of the Five-Year Highway Improvement Plan review. That's your signatures doing real work.

I'll post an update when I hear back.