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East Hants talks inland port
Council explores plan for transferring station in Milford Station as part of Atlantic Gateway
By CATHY VON KINTZEL Truro Bureau
Fri. Feb 27 - 4:46 AM
East Hants is positioning itself to be Nova Scotia’s rail and road transportation hub for the Atlantic Gateway.

With a consultant’s study in hand, East Hants municipal councillors agreed this week to explore the idea of creating what they call an inland port for the Port of Halifax along Highway No. 2 in Milford Station.

"I can’t say whether there’ll ever be a need for such a port, but we want to be sure we’re prepared to move forward," Warden John Patterson said in a telephone interview Thursday. "We want to provide a location if this type of facility goes ahead and if people in the area (accept) the concept."

Atlantic Gateway projects would provide improvements to transportation routes and ports across Nova Scotia.

The municipality hired a consultant to prepare a report on ways it could benefit from the Atlantic Gateway.

The report concluded there was opportunity to begin planning an intermodal logistics centre, or inland port, where goods could be transferred from one form of transportation to another; for example, from rail to truck or vice-versa.

The report will soon be posted on the municipality’s website and a public meeting will be held in March, although the date hasn’t been set.

East Hants chief administrative officer Ian Glasgow sees the concept as a rare opportunity that should be explored.

"These types of facilities, and the manufacturing and distribution centres that locate around them, can mean new jobs as well as significant new tax dollars for the municipality," he said in a news release. "That would make a big difference in terms of the services that we could provide to our residents."

Municipal councillors, including Milford’s representative, Willy Versteeg, hope people will think the concept is sound. At the very least, he’s urging them to get familiar with the idea and share their opinions.

"I think the community’s going to be very curious about the project," Mr. Versteeg said in an interview.

"East Hants has what it takes to make this work. We’ve got absolutely fantastic transportation links to air, rail, sea and highway."

Such a port could be located on land along Highway 2, which runs parallel to Highway 102 between Halifax and Truro. The property has access to a CN rail line and is roughly a 20-minute drive to Halifax Stanfield International Airport.

The Colchester Regional Development Agency is also exploring the potential of an inland terminal in Debert, close to where highways 102 and 104 intersect and with access to air and rail.

That potential is one small part of a regional transportation master plan that the development agency recently commissioned in connection to the Atlantic Gateway.