Mayor fears tragedy will occur if turning lane not added to Joey’s Lookout
The area around Joey’s Lookout near Gambo is causing concern for some local municipal leaders who fear a serious traffic accident is looming.
For years, Joey’s Lookout has been a popular destination of both locals and tourists who stop to grab a snack or take in the scenic view, but its location off the Trans-Canada Highway is a major concern for the Town of New-Wes-Valley.
There is no left turning lane for eastbound traffic, meaning vehicles must come to a standstill in a thoroughfare lane if there is westbound traffic.
After a recent near-fatal accident, Grant Burry, mayor of New-Wes-Valley, is looking for support from other municipalities in the area.
“We’ve got some serious concerns about it,” said Burry. “It’s the only place on the Trans-Canada that you have to hold up traffic on a left-hand turn going east.”
Burry said he’s raising awareness about the issue with other municipalities because the area is visited by many people from throughout the region, and he wants to see a turning lane added to the highway.
“With Joey’s Lookout there, it just doesn’t make sense to have no turning lane,” he said. “It’s not in our community, but our residents use the highway going back and forth to Gander. We’re just expressing our concern because someone is going to get killed there one of these days, there’s no doubt about it.”
People stop at the area to check out the view, and to buy hot dogs and vegetables from local vendors who set up in the area, but Burry said there might be other options, rather than setting up alongside the TCH.
“There’s quite a few people who stop there, but it’s really too risky,” he said. “There’s no reason why (the vendors) should be on the Trans-Canada.”
Burry said he’s trying to garner the support of other municipalities in the region to add more weight to the issue.
“We wrote the towns because it could be a resident of Gander that gets killed, it could be a resident of Hare Bay or someone from Glovertown,” he said. “There are people who go back and forth there every day, and there’s just no need for something to happen.”
The New-Wes-Valley mayor said he started raising concerns about the area with the Department of Transportation and Works five years ago, after witnessing an accident in the area.
“There was a vehicle stopped, turning into Joey’s Lookout, and behind that car there was a transport truck,” said Burry. “Behind that truck there was an ambulance. The guy in the transport truck didn’t see the car stopped and went on the inside and scraped up against the guardrail, and the ambulance just missed me and ended up on the guardrail at Joey’s Lookout.
“When I looked in my mirror, there were about 20 cars going everywhere trying to avoid each other. That could have been a major accident, and that’s why we first wrote the department.”
It’s about doing the right thing, said Burry.
“It’s a serious issue and we’re expressing our concern on behalf of everybody on the island,” he said. “It’s not much to put a strip of pavement there for a turning lane. We’re just trying to save a life, because every one counts.”