Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Fred Hutton said the government wants to hear about road problems from the people who use them most frequently. (Mark Quinn/CBC)
Selected rocky roads across Newfoundland and Labrador could be getting some construction work but the transportation minister says politics doesn’t play any role in which districts — red, blue or orange — get tackled first.
Earlier this month, the provincial government put out a call out for people to identify roads they would like to see addressed.
Transportation Minister Fred Hutton stressed that politics doesn’t play a role in determining what areas see work done.
“You look at the amount of money that’s spent over the years in terms of whether it’s a government-held district, either from a previous government or from our current government, and the opposition-held districts that get road work,” he told CBC Radio’s On the Go.
Hutton added there are roads in Liberal-held districts that need work that hasn’t been done.
Factors in decision-making include a road’s economic importance and how heavily it has been used.
He estimates the government spent approximately $100 million in opposition-held districts last year. In comparison, $170 million was spent in Liberal held districts, but said the difference is due to the fact there are more Liberal seats.
In the House of Assembly there are currently 22 Liberal seats, 14 PC seats, two NDP seats and two Independent seats.
Work to be done
Fogo Island-Cape Freels PC MHA and transportation critic Jim McKenna disagreed with Hutton’s comments that the process is free from politics.
He pointed to a comment Hutton made during the campaign trail for the Conception Bay East-Bell Island seat when he said, “When I am your MHA, I will be able to pick up the phone and call the transportation minister and say, ‘These roads … need to be done in this year’s budget,’ and they will be done.”
That’s a sign to McKenna that politics can influence how money gets spent.
“This is a clear attempt to leverage political influence, and it raises serious questions about the integrity of their process,” McKenna said in an email to CBC News.
Jim McKenna, the Tory MHA for Fogo Island-Cape Freels, says road maintenance is needed in his district and is going incomplete. (James McKenna/Facebook)
McKenna said while plenty of road work has happened throughout the province, many regional highways remain neglected.
“In my own district, [there was] a request for 10 km of road work due to the safety concerns of children being bused for the first time from Aspen Cove and Ladle Cove. Shockingly, only six km was approved,” he wrote.
The provincial government approved five km of work in Cape Freels, which McKenna said has not been completed.
“The government must prioritize safety and transparency in road planning, rather than allowing political manoeuvring to dictate infrastructure needs,” he wrote.
Call out
Hutton is asking for the public’s input into road repair plans so his department can spend the next few months determining what roads need to have work done ahead of future construction seasons.
In addition, he said, MHAs also raise concerns of their constituents to government.
“It’s nice because when people tell us about something that causes a safety concern, we can address it right away,” said Hutton.
Newfoundland and Labrador has 9,700 km of road to maintain, as well as 1,300 bridges, he said.
“We want to make sure that people, not just the MHA, but individuals themselves have an opportunity to get in touch with us to let us know what their wish list is, if you will, at this time of year,” said Hutton.
He said officials will gather those opinions and evaluate them with other data, including what engineers and depot staff have contributed, in order to make decisions.
“They are obviously travelling our roads on a daily basis. So they’ll look at and understand and know what needs the most attention, something that would have to be done in the next year,” he said.
People have until Jan. 19 to recommend road work to the government.
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