Ken McDonald giving Nalcor a chance for work in C.B.S.
Conception Bay South Mayor Ken McDonald says the town will give Nalcor the opportunity to use a local road to transport heavy trucks and equipment without contest, after the two parties met to discuss the issue Friday afternoon.
Earlier this week, McDonald threatened a blockade at Lears Road in Seal Cove in the area where Nalcor is building a shoreline electrode as part of the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project.
McDonald said the road was not built to sustain the kind of heavy traffic the project would bring to the area, and the extra traffic could pose safety concerns in the residential neighbourhood.
However, following a meeting Friday McDonald said he's willing to give the company a chance
"I told them I would commit to giving them an opportunity. They're committed to everything that they've said today and we'll see where it goes from there," he said.
"We told them that if things deteriorate to a point that things get out of hand, we'll certainly think about doing this [the roadblock] again."
According to McDonald, Nalcor committed to taking video footage of the road as it is today before any work starts and, once the project wraps up, comparing the state of the road at that point.
Nalcor would then take care of repairing the road to it's current or better state.
In addition, the company will install mobile radars so trucks travelling in the area will be able to better monitor the speeds, and Nalcor also said it will commit workers to driving at a speed well below the posted limit.
"They're going to work with us on the safety, they're going to deliver notices to all the residents in the area with direct contact information that if anybody is experiencing a problem they'll know who to call and who to talk to," said McDonald.
"They've committed that if they get complaints on anything, they will deal with them immediately."
McDonald added if things appear to take a bad turn, he'll reconsider the roadblock option.
Work in the area is likely to begin later this month or early May.
