Carbonear councillors feeling all wet about state of Valley Road

Some members of Carbonear council are none too pleased with the way that some of the reconstruction of Valley Road turned out.

At council’s June 26 meeting, it was noted some of the roadwork undertaken on the street was done with the purpose of reducing water buildup. However, some councillors contend the situation is even worse now and are pressing for repairs to be made.

Councillor Danielle Doyle said she had hoped the work to fix Valley Road would have started by now, but it has not yet begun.

"We're still trying to work through it," Doyle said. "It's still with legal."

The process is moving slower than council would like, and the Town's lawyers are trying to determine the state of the situation. She explained there is a bit of a holdup that the Town is trying to get clarification on.

Deputy Mayor Sam Slade said council has been more than fair with those in charge of the project, talking to them and trying to get the construction moving along. He feels it is now time to get on with the job.

"We did that road to make that road better and for it to be less water on it for the residents in the area," said Slade. "What we got was totally something that was 10 times worse."

According to Slade, while the road used to be plagued by one pool of water, the changes made to it have created more pools, "14 or 15" by the deputy mayor's estimate. Slade said the work is not good enough, nor is postponing the new repairs acceptable.

Doyle said she inspected the road herself on July 25th and while she acknowledged the huge rainfall that Carbonear and many communities experienced that day, the amount of water on Valley Road was still "incredible."

Doyle expressed concern that the water buildup may be damaging some driveways.

"The people in that area deserve better," chipped in Slade.

Olivia Bradbury, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Shoreline News