A Port Blandford resident wants to know why the 35-km stretch between Clarenville and Terra Nova National Park has been excluded from the provincial government’s expansion of 24-hour snow clearing.
Linda Davis says she was shocked to see only the path made by other drivers on the Trans Canada near Port Blandford around 9:00 a.m. on Monday morning after an overnight snowfall.
She says school buses must travel the highway to take students to school in Clarenville and while a plow can be requested in case of emergency, she says that takes precious time when seconds count.
She says she’s not getting much satisfaction from government in explaining why the gap can’t be addressed.
“The answer I got is that it’s the same as it always was, meaning that back in the last PC government we weren’t including in the 24-hour snow plowing at that time. So that’s what they used to justify the decision not to plow this very small stretch of road this time.”
One of the provincial government’s new snow plows. (Photo submitted)
The provincial government says it is making job offers to snowplow operators and is purchasing new equipment as it prepares to implement 24-hour snow clearing on the province’s 14 busiest routes by the end of the year.
The Department of Transportation says according to its records the Trans Canada at Port Blandford saw “multiple passes” from snow plows starting at 4:40 Monday morning. The department says the region saw 10 cm of snow which turned to freezing rain around 8:00 a.m. followed by rain, creating rough driving conditions.
Government says all routes have start and end points and snow can accumulate before plows are able to make additional passes.
