Demanding pavement

Labrador politicians and concerned citizens are questioning comments made late last month by the provincial government and its plans to pave the Trans-Labrador Highway between Red Bay and Goose Bay.

The CBC reported John Hickey, Minister of Labrador Affairs, as having committed the provincial government to paving phase 2, from Red Bay to Cartwright, and phase 3, from Cartwright Junction to Goose Bay, after phase 1, from Labrador West to Goose Bay, is completed, i.e. widened and paved.

The Pen asked Mr. Hickey to clarify his comments.

"What I said is we're committed to completing the Trans-Labrador Highway. What I also said is that we are going to hard-surface this road from Labrador West to Red Bay, and that's the commitment our government's making to the people of Labrador. To that extent, we have spent the $180-million, since 2004, on the Trans-Labrador Highway," Mr. Hickey said.

This year, the provincial government will invest $52.3-million, cost-shared with the federal government, to widen 130 km of phase 1 and lay asphalt on 110 km, according to a June 21 government release, which adds the province will invest an additional $32.5-million to complete construction of phase 3.

But it was the time-frame of the PC government's plans for the TLH which came under fire.

Concerned citizen Gerald Pye of Lodge Bay has joined forces with community members from Red Bay to Cartwright, who earlier this month circulated a petition in each community inclusive to lobby the government for pavement.

"The road is ridiculous, there's a job to get enough material to grade it and fill the potholes," said Mr. Pye, who worked as a grader operator for the past three summers. "The government had something started long before this - if they cared anything about the area and the people."

A protest is also in the works, tentatively for September, because the people of Labrador are sick and tired of being treated as second-class citizens by a government that has no issue with taking resources and tax dollars, Mr. Pye said.

"We're looking for all the outside support we can get - I wish every person on Newfoundland island would sign (the petition), to tell you the truth; it's their highway," he said. "We're not asking them to do it, with the demonstration - we're telling them to do it. And the more people we got behind us the better. The demonstration will be an ongoing thing. We'll keep on them until we get a new road."

Labrador MP Todd Russell said the province should undertake concurrent projects, rather than working on one stretch of the highway before starting another.

"That means, for me, upgrading the pavement that already exists here (from L'Anse au Clair to Red Bay); as well, starting as early as next year, with the widening of the road, the preparation which would be required for the paving from Red Bay north," Mr. Russell said.

"If we're going to have a true Trans-Labrador Highway, they've got to undertake that, not 10 or 15 years down the road, they have to undertake that now. We're not going to see development of some of our industries, like tourism, until we have paved roads, until we have the proper infrastructure in place."

The province should assess and analyze for road connections, widening and pavement, rather than touting a moratorium on road upgrades, Mr. Russell added.

"I think it's unreasonable to say to the people on the south coast of Labrador that they have to wait 10 to 15 (years) for a paving program," he said. "In the interim, they should be doing a hell of a better job keeping the road maintained, because there's a number of complaints with people who use this particular highway; and right now they're not maintaining it to the proper standards; they should be doing that at a minimum."