Contemporary abstract. Prince Edward Island (Epekwitk) is made of red dirt: soft clay, mud, and porous sandstone, inscribed throughout with streams and wetlands. It is regularly subjected to freezes and thaws, flash-flooding from post-tropical storms and nor'easters. This doesn't provide a long-term stable base for the pavement of our rural roads.

Brine-spray and intensive plowing keep these roads accessible through the winter, but also take their toll, and the pavement soon deforms and cracks and crumbles.

Roadwork season is every summer - every road needs at least patching every year, and repaving every few years, with the work usually done on short stretches of road at a time.