What did a new report find out about Nova Scotia road repair?

It's taking too long and costing too much money to fix Nova Scotia's roadways, according to the latest report from the province's auditor general. The report covers costs, project timelines, and the fact that the Department of Public Works has spent $850 million on repairing roads over the last five years, $215 million of which was considered to be over budget. This is a government that loves to talk about you know the historic investments it's making and the staggering amount of money that they are spending in and out of budget cycle. And yet, Nova Scotians are not seeing the reality of that spending translate into you know good, reliable, long-lasting roads in local communities across the province. The Auditor General says the department does not make objective decisions about what roads get their attention first. It's not evidence-based. We were surprised to find that. What are they doing? Well, I would say it's very informal and subjective. Adair says the department relies on engineers in four districts across the province. Each year, they put forward a list of potential projects. The problem, Adair says, is that they don't provide information on the reasons why those projects should move forward. Adair says the department can get more out of its budget by identifying the optimal point in the life cycle of a roadway and pavement and act accordingly. The report shows the province does collect a wide range of information from the public and its own staff about road conditions, but it says that information is not integrated or used to make decisions. It talks about the 63,000 calls the department got about road conditions between 2024 and 2026 when the audit was underway. The department does not have an accurate or up-to-date information on the condition of Nova Scotia's paved roads, and there's no consistent approach for the paving decisions that are made. The Minister of Public Works says most of the issues can be addressed with changes to policy administration. In my opinion, the report is a positive report, basically saying that you know we're doing a good job with what we have and we're doing a good job in our work. We're always open to positive improvement, right? Adair has made nine recommendations, including centralizing the collection of information about Nova Scotia's roads and has come up with criteria to better prioritize road projects. The Minister of Public Works says the department will begin implementing them in the spring of 2027. Alex Guy, CBC News, Halifax.