Downtown Corner Brook roadway blocked off
Residents wonder what’s happening with it, but the owners aren’t talking
CORNER BROOK, N.L. — It doesn’t look like a much-used roadway in downtown Corner Brook will be reopening to traffic anytime soon.
The area lies between the Millbrook Mall and Herald Towers on Herald Avenue. It’s owned by the Sterling Group, owners of the Millbrook Mall and the Valley Mall.
For years, traffic has been able to enter the roadway from either Herald Avenue or Lewin Parkway and access both the Herald Towers and Millbrook Mall parking lots. But more than just accessing the parking lots, the roadway provided a connection between Herald Avenue and the Lewin Parkway.
The area was blocked off with traffic barriers in the fall, and during the winter large piles of snow further prevented vehicles from getting through. Now that the snow is gone, more barriers have been added around the entire area.
The closure of the roadway has caused a disruption for motorists, and people are wondering what’s happening there.
Doug Sheppard is one of them.
Sheppard is a partner in Cornerstone Holdings, the company that owns Herald Towers. He’s fielded a lot of calls and inquiries from people about the closure.
“Cornerstone Holdings did not close the road, nor do we have the ability to do so, as we do not own this land,” he told Saltwire.
WITHOUT WARNING
Sheppard said they were not informed that the roadway would be closed this past fall or that the closure would continue, and that action is concerning to him.
“The main issue would be the inconvenience for community residents who have utilized this roadway for years.”
The obvious impact for his business would be reduced access to its parking lots. That, he said, has been difficult for tenants.
Sheppard said there are also safety concerns with the closure. Vehicles have been seen entering the roadway, not realizing it was closed and colliding into the barriers and backing out into oncoming traffic on a busy Herald Avenue.
On the Lewin Parkway side of the lot, traffic has been reduced because of the ongoing construction on the parkway. While taking pictures in the area, Saltwire observed vehicles turning off the Lewin Parkway to enter the Millbrook Mall, crossing over three lanes meant for exiting the mall parking lot.
Sheppard said Cornerstone Holdings has been trying to rectify the issue by putting in an access road to its side parking lot through its lower parking lot, where the new Robin's Donuts restaurant is being built. The lower lot can be accessed from Lewin Parkway.
The company has also obtained permits from the city to build a new driveway entrance for the side parking lot from Herald Avenue. Sheppard said this work will begin next week.
“However, this will not allow access to the intersection of the Lewin Parkway with the Millbrook Mall and Griffin Drive,” he added.
As for what will happen with the roadway, Sheppard said his company has not been informed of anything. “It appears that it may be a permanent closure at this point.”
MAYOR REACTS
Mayor Jim Parsons hasn’t heard a lot of complaints about the closure, but suspects people assume it has something to do with the intersection construction.
“But that’s not the case,” he said.
Parsons said it’s a private road and he doesn’t know if it was closed off so the owners could avoid snow clearing in the area or if they had intentions to fix it up.
“We have contacted the owners there to try and get them to confirm whether or not they intend on closing it permanently or what, so that we can make any necessary changes to how we treat that entrance to their parking lot, which is what it basically is,” he said.
“That access was approved for the Millbrook Mall decades ago off the Lewin Parkway. That would still remain.”
Parsons said it’s really that the city has to get the Millbrook Mall owners to decide whether they’re going to open the rest of the area or close it permanently.
Parsons is aware that Cornerstone Holdings has a permit to put in a driveway.
He doesn’t know if the two property owners have been talking, but either way said it’s not something the city can intervene in.
“I would like to see it resolved between the two owners, because I agree that one road is better than multiple.”
A local representative for the Sterling Group declined to comment on the company’s intentions for the roadway and Saltwire received no response to messages sent directly to the Sterling Group head office in Montreal.