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Minister clarifies policy on class 4 roads Tom Rideout, Minister of Transportation and Works, today clarified government�s policy regarding class 4 roads and the status of Old Mill Road in Goobies. "Our government announced the decision to discontinued maintenance on class 4 roads in March of 2004. Subsequently, in June, residents living on class 4 roads were notified in writing of this decision. They were advised to make alternate arrangements for road maintenance. This advance notice was given so that residents of class 4 roads could form an association, to ensure snow clearing on these roads," said the minister. "The Department of Transportation and Works will assist in the case of an emergency in plowing snow to enable emergency vehicles access to such properties. This has always been our policy," said Minister Rideout. "To that end, we have in place a 24 hour dispatch service where there is always an individual available in the event of an emergency, who can contact the supervisor for the area, who will in turn take the appropriate action. "Over the past number of years there has been a significant inequity in the maintenance of class 4 roads in that some class 4 roads were being plowed during the winter, while others were not. We wanted a fair and consistent policy." Class 4 roads that were snow cleared previously, like Old Mill Road, were cleared last by the department and not normally cleared on overtime. Therefore, residents of class 4 roads would have been snowed in for a period of time during the winter, prior to the implementation of this policy, in previous years. "This change in policy was made with a lot of thought and planning. Our government gave all residents of class 4 roads ample opportunity to make arrangements to ensure that their roads would be cleared during winter. Minister Rideout said, "When the Burin Peninsula Highway was constructed in the 1970s, Old Mill Road was classified as a class 4 road because it became an abandoned section of this highway. "Living in the boundaries of a local service district is not unique to Old Mill Road as there are multiple class 4 roads within local service districts." "MHA Percy Barrett claims he started a process to reclassify Old Mill Road when he was Minister of Works, Services and Transportation. However, there is no record in my department of Mr. Barrett doing this," said Minister Rideout. Media contact: Lori Lee Oates, ABC, Communications, (709) 729-3015 or (709) 690-8403 2005 01 26 12:35 p.m. |
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