Roads, Sidewalks, Streetlights

Every year, the Municipality and the Province of Nova Scotia work together to divide road winter maintenance responsibilities as efficiently as possible.

During the winter months, contractors are engaged by the Municipality to provide snow clearing and winter maintenance activities on a small number of roads and all sidewalks.

• List of Roads Cleared by the Municipality

To address safety issues that may arise during and after winter storm events, the Municipality wants to remind residents to please:

• Avoid pushing large volumes of snow into ditches as it can turn into ice and block culverts.
• Don’t push snow from your private property onto public streets and sidewalks. It is challenging to keep those public spaces clear and open during heavy weather conditions and additional snow doesn’t help.
• Do not park on public roads where it could obstruct snow removal or other winter maintenance efforts.

Ditches & Culverts

Open and clear ditches and culverts are essential to proper drainage of storm water from winter thawing.  Please do not place snow in the ditches when clearing your driveways.  As well, homeowners are responsible to ensure driveway culverts are kept open and clear.  Thank you for your assistance.

Sidewalks

• East Hants Policy for Winter Clearing Standard for Roads & Sidewalks
• Snow Clearing Bylaw

The Municipality owns a small percentage of roads in East Hants and is responsible for the maintenance of the road surfaces, curbing and drainage ditches in the right of way. It also includes road access approvals, technical overviews for new subdivisions and inspections in accordance with the Municipal Standards.

• Municipal Standards for Private Roads
• Road Access Standards
• Road Access Permit Application Form

Ditch Infilling

• Ditch infilling is not permitted on any municipal road
• Ditches and culverts form part of the storm drainage system and residents must seek approval before work is carried out
• Foundation drains cannot be directly connected to roadside ditches

Decorative Walls:

• Decorative or retaining walls are not permitted in the Municipal owned right-of-way. Walls can restrict drainage flow and put restrictions (extra costs) on municipal ditching programs
• All maintenance relating to decorative walls are the responsibility of the property owner
• If work has to be done by the municipality on the storm water ditch, water laterals or sanitary sewer system, the wall is the responsibility of the owner

The Municipality owns and maintains all sidewalks in East Hants. This includes the surface condition, mowing grass and snow clearing. During the winter months, municipal contractors perform clearing and maintenance services.

East Hants uses LED streetlights to increase visibility for road safety. Streetlights are added either within a service boundary through request form or to address a specific safety need.

• New Streetlight Request Form
• Streetlight Policy