Anxious to meet

Wabush mayor Ron Barron is quite eager to have a sit down with Minister Tom Hedderson this week.

The minister of Transportation and Works will be in Labrador West July 6 and 7 and will meet with both Labrador City and Wabush councils to discuss issues in the area.

Four lanes wanted

And there's plenty to discuss, according to Barron, who said the road between Labrador City and Wabush will certainly be on the plate.

"Councillor [Clarence] Hoyles raised some concerns at our council meeting a couple of weeks ago over that road between Labrador City and Wabush," said Barron. "I think his concerns are valid. This road was built in the late 60s and we'd like to know if they are adequate for today's needs. I am thinking 'no', as is the rest of council."

The Wabush mayor said he will be looking to the minister to have a traffic study done in the area and given the amount of increased activity, he feels the request is well justified.

Councillor Hoyles, he said, figured there should be a double-lane highway between Wabush and Labrador City the full way and Barron said the Town of Labrador City has the same concerns.

"Both councils will be at the meeting and we both share a lot of the same concerns," he continued. "There is a lot of heavy traffic, heavy equipment traffic coming out of the industrial park and we are getting complaints from residents. A number of complaints that come to use are concerning loaders and graders. When they get on the highway, they slow traffic down and it makes it unsafe because people are trying to go around these pieces of equipment."

The current traffic in the area seems to be an awful lot, he said, more than it has ever seen in the past.

Underpass

Barron said he is keenly interested as well to learn what the plans will be for the new underpass that is slated for construction by Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines early next month. It's important, he said, this underpass be done with consideration that the road may be upgraded to a four-lane highway.

"I have been talking to Greg Mercer from Consolidated and will be talking to him again before Minister Hedderson comes in."

Barron added that the company has been forthcoming with information, whenever he has requested it regarding the underpass and he commended the company for agreeing to the pricey project.

I think it's important to discuss it with the minister to make sure this underpass will adequately suit the needs here.

Housing issues

A very important issue Barron said he is looking forward to talking to the minister about, as well, is the housing crisis in the area.

Controls need to be in place, he said, and if not, there will be devastating effects.

"There are a number of people in our area-and there are groups-that have major concerns over the costs of rental units and the skyrocketing prices of houses," he pointed out. "That being said, you can't blame people for trying to get the best dollar for what they do have; but the housing, especially in the rental part, it's just gone crazy. We will be looking to government for some rent caps, because it has to happen. We are losing longtime residents who just can't afford to stay here anymore because of the extraordinary amounts these rates been raised over the last couple of years. "

Barron said he's aware of sad situations where a widow, who could no longer maintain the upkeep of her house, sold and rented an apartment and suddenly the rent went up way out of their ability to pay.

"It's devastating to people on a fixed income, even $100 or $200 was not affordable to many," he said of rental rates. "Now, in some cases the rent has doubled and tripled and we are losing pioneers of our community. We are losing our younger people, who are our future leaders."

College

When it comes to the new college being addressed, seems the government is oblivious to the housing crisis, Barron added, and that needs to be addressed as well.

"Just take the new college being built here with no residence to accompany it," he pointed out. As far as I am concerned, they are building that college to fail. Students cannot come here to pay $1500 or $2,000 for rent. Our young are moving away and not going to college here. So how can we expect students to come here to attend this college, or stay here to attend college? We need a residence and that's old news."

Barron said he is anxious to discuss these and other issues with the minister and said he will be calling upon the Labrador West MHA to lobby the government for these solutions.