Bill Davis has been pounding the pavement … or the 16 km stretch of unpaved road between Colinet and Markland for decades trying to get it paved.
The 88-year-old continues to write letters to government ministers, to his MHA, and lately he said it appears they no longer hear him. He hardly gets a response.
“In my letters I expressed my concern and surprise that the Liberal government has decided not to complete the upgrading to these roads that was started by the previous government,” he said.
“There was very little upgrading to be finished and these roads would have been ready for paving. Also, I stated that without the completion of the upgrading and paving that the investment from the previous two years of work would be lost.
“It is quite obvious, that the crush stone is being flicked off by traffic and the damage to the upgrading continues to worsen. I never received the courtesy of a reply.
Davis, who is also a former mayor of Colinet, said residents have been complaining about the road for years.
And it’s not like they are the only ones who notice.
The road is listed as one of the Top 10 by the CAA in its annual voting campaign for the region’s worst roads.
“The purpose of our worst roads campaign is to highlight the number of dangerous road conditions in the region,” said Gary Howard, vice president of communications at CAA Atlantic, in a news release.
“Poor road conditions affect everyone, and over the years we’ve seen communities leverage worst roads as an opportunity to bring attention to problematic roads in their region.”
The Colinet road is not the only one in the area that needs work.
Ray Murphy says thousands of tourists soon to be arriving to the province through Marine Atlantic’s port at Argentia will see a road link to the Trans-Canada Highway with broken pavement and a damaged signage.
He said there at least should be, “temporary patching along the routeway in a timely fashion with a firm commitment that this highway be included for major upgrading in the (provincial government’s) five-year plan.”
He also said proper blue tourism signage should be installed, damaged signage replaced, and line painting on the roads completed before the first docking of the ferry.
