Français
EsperantoAbbott Drive
Abbott Drive is a quiet residential street, in a quiet residential neighbourhood, that happens to have the Bicentennial Highway for a next-door neighbour. The proximity to the highway leads to certain issues on which I am working with local residents.
Photo: Abutments of the Fairview Overpass behind Abbott Drive with Ashburn Drive in the foreground and Elliott Street on the right. To the left of the abutments is the area where flooding is a problem for some Abbott Drive residents. (June 28, 2007).
Photo: The backyard fence of an Abbott Drive home near Ashburn Avenue. Joseph Howe Drive is in the distance (May 21, 2005).
Photo: The Joseph Howe Drive embankment above the drain. The water is flowing on to provincial land (May 21, 2005).
Photo: Water that has come from the drain under Joseph Howe Drive (May 21, 2005).
Photo: Greenspace between Abbott Drive and the BiHi. The new trees there were planted after Hurricane Juan damaged some of the old trees (June 28, 2007).
Flooding
West of Ashburn Drive, there is a problem with flooding caused by blocked drains and runoff from provincial land around the concrete columns that support the highway.
Some homes on the north side of Abbott Drive, between Ashburn Avenue and Joseph Howe Drive, suffer from a long-standing
problem of flooding in their basements.
That problem appears to originate in, or at least to be connected with, flooding on provincial land behind their homes. In turn, the flooding on the provincial land originates from Joseph Howe Drive.
The essential problem is that large amounts of water come from what is supposed to be an old, blocked-off drain in the Joseph Howe Drive embankment.
But the mixture of jurisdictions (HRM road, provincial land, Water Commission works) makes it difficult to sort out who is responsible for solving the problem. The Water Commission has assured me that the run-off is not connected to any of their works.
Storm Damage to Trees
East of Ashburn Drive, there is a problem with storm-damaged trees on provincial land.
In October 2004 I sent a letter to Abbott Drive residents about issues tree damage from Hurricane Juan along the Bicentennial Highway, noise from jake brakes, and flooding. You can read it here in PDF format.
In consultation with Abbott Drive residents, the Department of Transportation planted some new trees in the spring of 2005. As of August 2007, some of the new trees are doing well, but some are not.
(This is similar to the trees along the School Avenue fence, many of which could not survive the stress of living alongside a busy highway.) One tree was run over by an over-enthusiastic grass-cutting crew.
Jake Brakes
Also on Abbott, and indeed affecting all residents of the neighbourhood, is the problem of engine brakes (also known as "jake brakes") used by truckers on the highway. For more information on this issue, please see the jake brakes page.