Bay Roberts traffic light was meant to improve safety, but it's never been activated

A costly project that was intended to improve traffic flow and pedestrian safety in Bay Roberts has hit a stubborn red light following an embarrassing mistake — and town officials are being very guarded when it comes to the release of information as efforts to resolve the problem are explored.

The town spent roughly $500,000 last year to upgrade the busy intersection at Route 70 and Sawdust Road, and install traffic/pedestrian lights.

The project received the green light after years of complaints about how this section of road through Bay Roberts is not pedestrian friendly, and how drivers are often forced to dart across multiple lanes of traffic in order to enter and exit Route 70.

But for some unexplained reason, one of the poles for the lighting system was installed less than a car's length from Lodge MacKay, a Masonic lodge located at the intersection, on the eastern side of Route 70.

It turns out the pole was placed on land owned by the Masons, and no one is saying how the mistake was made, or what options are being considered in order to finally flip the switch and activate the traffic and pedestrian lights.

So for many months, the traffic lights have been covered in garbage bags that have become tattered by the wind, and the buttons intended to activate a pedestrian crossing serve no purpose. 

When she saw the lights being installed last year, Sawdust Road resident Vera Molloy was both relieved and overjoyed.

"We thought at last our problems are being addressed," Molloy told CBC News during an interview at the intersection on Thursday morning.

But weeks and months went by and the lights were never activated. Then the rumours started. And now, Molloy and others are tired of waiting.

Molloy is an avid walker, and she has to walk several hundred metres to access a pedestrian crossing, and then double back in order in order to get to the shopping mall or the bank on the opposite side of Route 70. 

And left turns are not permitted when she exits Sawdust Road onto Route 70 in her car, so again she has to drive south and find a place to turn around in order to travel north, while being mindful of the heavy traffic that's common in this area.

"How would you like to skip across there this morning? Across four lanes of traffic to get over there, it's not good," Molloy said while gesturing at the wide road and struggling to be heard over the growling engines passing by.

Sawdust Road is a popular area for 50-plus housing units, and more are being constructed.

Molloy and her husband relocated to Bay Roberts a few years ago from the Burin Peninsula. While they enjoy living in the town, they are not comfortable with the traffic situation.

"It causes us lots of problems."

Acting Mayor Geoff Seymour declined an interview request, saying it's a "legal issue" and "I can't say much."

Seymour directed CBC News to the town's new chief administrative officer, Dave Tibbo. He also declined a recorded interview, saying only that negotiations between the parties involved are underway and that he's "100 per cent committed to resolving the situation very soon."

A member of Lodge MacKay also declined comment, and asked that he not be identified in this story.

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