A group of residents in the Shelburne area say the roads in their community — which are littered with potholes and crumbling asphalt — aren't safe to drive.

"It's almost like we've had an earthquake," says Shelly Hipson, a local resident who lives on Shore Road.

Hipson and her neighbours started a petition this fall to try to get the attention of the province's Department of Transportation.

"I've written probably two dozen letters and no response," Hipson said.

Her neighbour, Bonnie Van Buskirk, has also written several letters and sent faxes to the department.

"There are so many dips and valleys and holes," she said. "Patching is not the answer. The road needs to be paved."

Van Buskirk says she and her neighbours have been asking the province for 10 years to fix the road but she feels ignored.

Roads in Shelburne are littered with potholes and crumbling asphalt, residents say. (Preston Mulligan/CBC)

'Nervous for my family and friends'

School buses, lobster trucks and other large vehicles routinely avoid the rough patches by driving on the wrong side of the road, Van Buskirk said.

"I avoid driving over the road in the winter as much as I can. It makes me nervous for my family and friends," she said.

Another road on the group's wish list for fixes is Sandy Point Road in Jordan Bay. Norman Wallet, a municipal councillor, says he doesn't believe it's safe either.

"When a road is so dangerous that people drive on the other side of the road, then the province has to do something about it because someone is going to be killed," he said.

Department of Transportation staff say they're aware of the concerns — but the bottom line is there are simply too many other roads in the province in even worse shape.

The department says it has no plans to replace either road within the next five years for several reasons, including the low traffic volume. It will, however, patch the problem areas.

'Too many humps and bumps'

Wallet says there is more commercial traffic on the road than the province may think.

"There's a lot of heavy fish trucks, dump trucks, oil trucks and school buses," he said, adding that the worst conditions are in the spring and winter. "It can't be plowed. There's too many humps and bumps."

Brian Taylor, a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation, said there have been several conversations with the residents about their concerns.

The province has 23,000 kilometres of paved road to maintain, he says, and given the budget the roads in Shelburne will have to wait.