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Originally Posted by J81
Just to save 1.5-2hrs on a trip to mtl?
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In my opinion this kind of attitude is the wrongheaded one. People often shrug off increased travel times that are very significant. It's not just 2 hours, it's 2 hours on thousands of trips per year and millions of trips over the lifetime of the highway. Saint John could be 10 hours from Toronto but it's 13 hours because of indirect highway connections. This matters for commerce and industry, and for people deciding where to visit or live or study.
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The maritimes are broke. There are much more important ways to spend the little money we have then building highways in another country much wealthier then ours.
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Better projects like...? The Maritimes have spent a lot more money on corporate welfare and other dubious economic development schemes in dying rural and industrial areas. Sydney Steel alone soaked up the equivalent of about $5B in subsidies in today's dollars. The region should instead focus on keeping taxes low and building great infrastructure.
NB has bad provincial finances right now but NS and PEI don't. The population in the Maritimes grew by 15,000 last year. The region isn't broke or going through a demographic apocalypse. It needs to invest in better infrastructure to improve its economy though.