Latest news with #BayRoberts
CBC
28-05-2025
- General
- CBC
A traffic light meant to make a Bay Roberts road safer sits dark — and no one is saying why
The town of Bay Roberts spent $500,000 to upgrade a busy intersection and install a traffic light. But it hasn't been turned on and quiet negotiations are underway. The CBC's Terry Roberts has more.
CBC
23-05-2025
- General
- CBC
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."
CBC
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Canada's Got Talent winner Jacob Lewis welcomed home as local celebrity
From the big stage back to Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula, Canada's Got Talent winner Jacob Lewis was welcomed home on the long weekend to celebrate his newfound fame and fortune. Lewis, an offshore oil and gas worker from Butlerville, a neighbourhood within Bay Roberts, took home a million dollars after singing his way to the top of a nationally televised talent show. Lewis was emotional as he thanked everyone in his hometown for their support. "When I auditioned for Canada's Got Talent, I was dreaming big," he told the crowd. "You guys have helped make this a reality." "If you're a kid, if you're an adult, if you're anyone and you have a dream or something, I'm living proof that just a regular Joe and this can become possible for you guys," he said. Balloons and billboard-like signs hung on many homes, as a long motorcade led by the Bay Roberts fire department, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and its search and rescue unit, escorted Lewis into the town with sirens blaring. People and cars lined the one-way road going through Butlerville. The owner of the community's only take-out restaurant, Mountain View Grocery, shut off the deep fryers to watch Lewis drive by. As residents waved, they talked among themselves about how Lewis must feel tired despite the excitement. His entrance to the town's field was met with cheering, and people saying "God love him." In a field where the celebrations continued, dozens of people lined up to get autographs and pictures with Lewis. Hannah Stone, who met Lewis before he won the show and took a photo with him, brought the picture for him to autograph. "I've already met him at McHappy Day, and he's a really nice person," Stone said. Paige Peddle knows Lewis' sons and spoke highly of the family. "I think it's really great that he won, his kids are so nice, and he's just a really good person," Peddle said. Lewis' cousin, Ella Franie, watched the Canada's Got Talent finale live in Niagara Falls and recalls the moment she saw his win. "I got so excited I started screaming," Franie said. Lewis says he will have more to share on his next steps soon.
