A growing town in the metro region is hopeful that the provincial roads within its boundaries will be added to ’round-the-clock’ snow clearing as it was left off the list when the new government announced its version of total winter road maintenance a few weeks ago. But it says there are ways to improve service relatively easily.

Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s, which borders on St. John’s, Torbay and Paradise, clears its municipal roads but the provincial government is responsible for roads owned by it, such as Thorburn Road.

Mayor Dave Bartlett says his town has a great working relationship with government but he doesn’t understand why municipal plows leave the depot and drive through Thorburn to get to municipal roads, yet are not permitted to drop the blade on Thorburn and make a cut.

Mayor Bartlett says they have been told that it is two separate jurisdictions, thus the reasoning that municipal plows cannot do roads under provincial jurisdiction.