Piccadilly man unhappy with state of roads

Pat Hurley says the roads in Piccadilly are a mess. He's calling on Port au Port MHA Tony Cornect to help resolve the issue.

Mr. Hurley is 77-years-old and is in his own words, crippled. He rides a motorized scooter along the roadside to get to where he's going.

There are spots along the main road in Piccadilly that are washed out and other spots where the shoulder has eroded off, leaving him no choice, he says, but to drive on the pavement.

"Our roads are shocking," Mr. Hurley says. "There's no place for our children to walk to school. They're not fit to walk on and they can't ride a bike."

Mr. Hurley said he's contacted his MHA's office about his road concerns several times, but has received no feedback.

"The only way I can get around is on my scooter, and if you can't drive along the side of the road, you got to be up on the pavement."

Mr. Hurley says he would ideally like to see sidewalks of some sort put in place, or at the very least the road shoulders repaired and paved out to include an area for children to bike or walk and for people like himself who are dependent on alternative methods of transportation.

Mr. Hurley says when he contacted Mr. Cornect's office, he was given another number to call. He says that number led to another number and so on.

He feels his complaints aren't being taken seriously."I got no feedback whatsoever," he says. "We got no council, we got nothing here. We have no choice but to contact our MHA. He's the only one."

Two years ago, Mr. Hurley says he brought the need for guard railing in several spots throughout the community to the attention of Mr. Cornect which did lead to the installment of some safety rails.

Mr. Cornect says the guard rails installed in the community last year came about after Transportation and Works assessed the area of a constituent's concern and agreed guard rails would be warranted in some areas. He says shouldering work was also done throughout his district last year but that heavy spring rains did wash some of that away.

Mr. Cornect says the Transportation and Works is aware there are continuing shouldering needs in the community of Piccadilly.

In the meantime, Mr. Hurley feels the response he's received about his complaints is not enough.

He says he will continue to lobby for road repairs until the work is done.

Mr. Cornect says he and his staff take all calls to his office seriously and that where road issues are concerned, those complaints are turned over to the Department of Transportation and Works, who are responsible for most roads on the peninsula.

"Whether that's shouldering, guard railing and so forth," he says. "When there's a call made in regards to road issues we certainly do call Transportation and Works and we encourage constituents to call Transportation and Works, as well."