GRAND LAKE/OAKFIELD: The Department of Public Works said it was aware of the debris that was strewn across part of Hwy 2 in Grand Lake and Oakfield during tree cutting.
In an interview earlier this week, Jasmine Flemming responded to a query from The Laker News about the tree cutting that was taking place. Some of the cutting saw large parts of the debris go onto the road and not be cleaned up, thus the motoring public was forced to drive over it.
In other instances debris from the tree cutting flew into neighbouring yards, near homes and vehicles.
“We are working closely with the project’s contractor to rectify the problem,” said Flemming on Jan. 16. “We apologize to local residents and the traveling public for the inconvenience.”
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Several residents took to local community pages on Facebook to voice their concern over what they termed “a mess” and “an accident waiting to happen.”
Flemming said the work is part of a clearing contract that was tendered by the province this past summer.
“The clearing will improve visibility and sight lines along this section of the roadway,’ she said.
MLA and Advanced Education Minister Brian Wong saw the issue arose from the posts on social media and took a drive to check it out for himself. He made a post on his Facebook page on the issue, with photos.
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She explained what might have been the cause for some of the debris landing in neighbouring yards.
“High winds over the weekend contributed to a lot of flying debris,” said Flemming. “The contractor temporarily shut down cutting operations to focus solely on clearing the roadway.”
Flemming said all clearing projects led by the province always require debris to be continuously removed from roadways.
“Public Works will continue monitoring daily activities at this site to make sure the issue doesn’t persist,” said Flemming.
