No overnight roadwork for P.E.I., MacKinley says

P.E.I. Transportation Minister Ron MacKinley has no interest in making road crews work around the clock.

The idea was floated this week by Summerside motel owner Don Reid, who is also chairman of the Atlantic Provinces Chambers of Commerce.

Reid said it's bad for business, and Island tourism, to have long lineups along the roads during construction season. He would like to see at least two 10-hour shifts a day, or around-the-clock construction work.

"It's very, I guess, infuriating to a lot of the travelling public ... a thorn in the side when you have to be delayed by road construction," said Reid.

Reid said other jurisdictions have road crews that work just at night or around the clock. He believes the costs to the Transportation Department would be minimal.

MacKinley disagrees. He said previous governments have experimented with night-time road crews, with very little success.

"How would he like it if we start doing 24-hour service in front of his motel and they're banging and clunking all night? Or how would you like to be the people next to shale pits when the loaders and trucks are banging out all night?" said MacKinley.

"We tried that back in the previous Liberal government under Joe Ghiz, I guess it was, and we got one awful pile of complaints."

MacKinley said tourists are usually quite understanding when they have to wait for a period of time during road construction season. It's a fact of life, he said, that people sometimes have to wait for things to get done.