Bay Roberts Construction Work Costs Business Revenue

By Olivia Bradbury / Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The knotty problem of how to help businesses affected by large scale municipal road construction outside their doors came to the floor of Bay Roberts council last week.

The discussion was precipitated by a letter sent to council by a business operator on Water Street, who was not named during the debate.

Water Street has been undergoing construction that led to the closure of a portion of the road from Bishops Road to the Cross Roads, requiring drivers to take a detour via other roads. The business in question is located in the portion of the road that was closed to traffic, and the owner wrote to council about the revenue being lost as a result of the construction.

Councillor Silas Badcock suggested the Town promote the business via social media, but Chief Administrative Officer Nigel Black said that method, which council has tried before in an effort to help businesses, does not do enough.

Councillor Dean Franey recalled a similar complaint from businesses last year that were impacted by construction being done on Conception Bay Highway. He said in that instance, the council informed business owners that it did not have a mechanism in place to do anything about the problem. While council could move the matter to the committee of the whole for further discussion, Franey said, it’s likely it would end up reaching the same conclusion in the current scenario.

Mayor Walter Yetman disagreed. He argued there is a significant difference between the construction of last year and the ongoing work on Water Street. Whereas the Conception Bay Highway construction had allowed through traffic, the Water Street construction does not, he pointed out.

And while Franey noted the business in question has a sign out front telling people the store is open, Yetman reiterated that the stretch of road the business is located on is completely shut down, which makes it is less likely that people will see the sign and, even if they did, the closed road might dissuade them from visiting as they would likely need to park some distance away and make their way on foot.

Yetman also shared concerns that the construction project is taking too long, and that the longer it takes, the more affected businesses will be. Ultimately, it was decided the issue would be moved to the committee of the whole for further discussion.