The Town of Aquaforte continues its push for immediate action by the Province to address safety concerns for a stretch of highway that has claimed three lives in three years due to moose collisions.
Town council wrote in an August 5 letter to Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Barry Petten that the current government and previous administrations have neglected ongoing safety concerns along Route 10 in its area of the Southern Shore.
Town manager Aaron Croft said advocacy has been ongoing for many years but ramped up in summer 2023 after a moose collision killed a single motorcyclist near Aquaforte. The urgent need for moose mitigation was renewed this past June after two Bay Bulls residents were killed when their motorcycle collided with a moose, again just outside Aquaforte.
“Three lives have been lost here already. Near misses involving moose occur daily. Families, workers and visitors continue to travel a highway where the risk is well known, well documented through social media, and steadily increasing,” council wrote in the Aug. 5 letter. “Our community feels strongly – and increasingly – that both the current government and the previous administration have neglected this portion of the Southern Shore. Despite repeated warnings, lived experience, and clear evidence of danger, our section of Route 10 continues to be excluded from the very measures that are being promoted as provincial safety priorities.”
Council had written Minister Petten, Premier Tony Wakeham and Ferryland MHA Loyola O’Driscoll after the June 2026 fatalities and received a response from Petten, on behalf of the premier.
Petten outlined brush clearing tenders awarded on Route 10 between Tors Cove and Brigus South, as well as upcoming tenders for areas between St. John’s and Witless Bay, as well as Brigus South to Cape Broyle. Petten wrote that additional clearing projects along Route 10 will be reviewed and added to project plans for future years.
The minister also highlighted the Province’s expenditure of $6.5 million on moose fencing and brush clearing along high-risk highway sections, with a total of 22 projects in 2026 covering 400 kms of provincial highways.
But Aquaforte council said the response as unacceptable, all things considered, and pointed out much of the brush clearing outlined for Route 10 was taking place in areas where brush clearing had taken place only a few years ago.
Council stated the Province must take immediate steps to include the Cape Broyle to Cappahayden corridor in its mitigation plans. Croft said he believed the last meaningful brush clearing in that region took place as far back as 2008.
Aquaforte is calling for expanded brush clearing, but also a ‘meaningful’ increase in moose hunting licences in the area.
“Brush cutting is essential, and we fully support its continued use as a mitigation tool. However, it is only one part of what is required. The moose population along Route 10 has grown significantly in recent years, and without a corresponding increase in moose licences the risk will continue to escalate,” Aquaforte council wrote in its response to Petten. “Reducing vegetation without reducing population density is an incomplete strategy that leaves our residents exposed to unacceptable levels of danger.”
Croft said the Town does not have jurisdiction to perform work along a provincial highway and that, even if it did, towns of its size do not have the financial capacity to fund any meaningful brush clearing efforts.
