Quote:
Originally Posted by eternallyme
Thanks, I was going by a combination of maps, other sites and Google Earth, since I haven't travelled that highway since 2000.
Twinning/bypassing the Canso Causeway would be an interesting decision, since the options are:
1) Twinning the causeway, new approaches (but how to cross the railway?)
2) Twinning the causeway and the approaches (requires major expropriation, and curves are too much)
3) New 4 lane causeway to the north (IMO the best option)
4) New 4 lane high-level bridge to the north (most expensive option for sure)
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I'm basing my assumption on where the current 104 ends outside Port Hawkesbury, but I think a new structure to the north is the most likely, whether it's a causeway or bridge is anybody's guess. As for the 104 past River Tillard, there was a call for route proposals to complete the design and ROW to Sydney a couple of years back. The plan was to design for 4-lane twinned, but build initially as 2-lane controlled access freeway.
I did an estimate of traffic on a completed 104 by taking through traffic on 105 and adding that to each section of 104/Tk4 on the island (local traffic on Tk4, with the exceptions of Port Hawkesbury, St. Peter's, and close to Sydney) accounts for only about 500-1,000 vehicles of the aadt. It's not a perfect estimate by any means, but the least busy section would see about 4,300 and the busiest near 10,000 (near Sydney). This doesn't take into account the use of certain sections near Port Hawkesbury and Sydney as local road, nor does it account for increased usage for vacation traffic since the trip would now be easier and faster. I'll do up a quick map for illustration, than underneath list the sections and estimated aadt.
I'll use a different scale for this one, just to illustrate it a bit better, since it's only this one section of road, and I'll use Tk4 alignment after the 104 ends since I don't know where the route is going to go, though I have an idea of where I'd put it. (I think I'll do up a quick map of that underneath). Again, maps made by me in Google maps.
The legend for this one:
White = <5,000
Grey = 5,001 to 6,000
Blue = 6,001 to 7,000
Green = 7,001 to 8,000
Yellow = 8,001 to 9,000
Orange = 9,001 to 10,000
Red > 10,000
Causeway to 105 - 9,630 (unchanged)
Port Hawkesbury Bypass - ~8500 (I kinda roughed in this one by assuming it be about half way between the levels of the section before and after it)
Exit 43 to 44 - 7,490
Exit 44 to 45 - 7,050
Exit 45 to 46 - 6,440
Exit 46 to 47 - 5,640
Exit 47 to River Tillard - 5,620
River Tillard to St Peters - 6,650
St Peters to Rte 247 - 7,400
Rte 247 to Soldier's Cove - 5,260
Soldier's Cove to Hay Cove - 4,660
Hay Cove to Irish Cove - 4,320
Irish Cove to Big Pond Centre - 4,490
Big Pond Centre to Loch Lomand Rd - 5,300
Loch Lomand Rd to Ben Eion - 5,020
Ben Eion to East Bay - 5,980
East Bay to Meadows Rd - 8,300
Meadows Rd to Hwy 125 - 10,050 (this one's rougher than the others too, due to more local traffic).
Here's a rough route that I would do with an explanation below (if anybody wants a close-up of any section of this road I can do that too, though it's very rough because I'm actually not that good at Google maps unless I'm following an actual road).
Orange = Existing 105
Grey = Existing Tk 4
Green = Existing 104
Blue = New 104
White = Existing Connector, little to no upgrade
Yellow = Existing Connector, upgrade probably needed
Red = New Connector
Black = Road Removal
Brown = Re-alignment Tk 4
Rundown of route with exit #'s under current scheme (I'll only list the changes):
New crossing North of current Canso Causeway
Exit 41- Diamond Interchange at Tk 19 (Inverness, Cabot Trail)
Exit 41A - Diamond and Cloverleaf at Hwy 105 - Port Hastings, Baddeck, Cabot Trail (I missed the SE corner of the cloverleaf on the drawing, however, there is room)
Exit 42 - Diamond at Crandall Rd (upgrade) - Port Hawkesbury
Exit 43 - 3/4 Diamond and 1/4 Cloverleaf at Tk 4 - Port Hawkesbury, Cleveland (1/4 Cloverleaf and 1/4 Diamond already exists)
Evanston Bypass to allow for interchanges rather than at-grade intersections.
Exit 44 - Diamond at Port Malcolm Rd - Lower River Inhabitants
Exit 45 - Diamond at Whiteside Rd - Evanston, Whiteside
Exit 48 - Diamond at current Tk 4 - River Tillard, St. Peters (Extend Tk 4 at current intersection slightly to meet up with diamond, re-align Tk 4 slightly east to make room for interchange, remove excess roadway from old Tk 4)
Exit 49 - Diamond at Oban Rd - St. Peters, Oban
Exit 50 - Diamond at Bras-D'Or Lakes Dr - St. Peters, Sampsonville, L'Ardoise
3 short crossings of Bras-D'Or Lakes, 2 of which could be fill or bridge
Exit 51 - Diamond at Tk 4 - Barra Head, Lynche River, L'Ardoise
Exit 52 - Diamond at Soldier's Cove Rd - Chapel Island (Potlotek), Soldier's Cove (upgrade)
Exit 53 - Diamond at Hay Cove Rd - Hay Cove, Johnstown (upgrade)
Exit 54 - Diamond at Irish Cove Rd - Irish Cove (upgrade)
Exit 55 - Diamond at Loch Lomond Rd - Big Pond, Loch Lomond (upgrade surface)
Exit 56 - Diamond - Ben Eion (new connector south of ski hill/golf course)
Exit 57 - Diamond - East Bay, Eskasoni (new connector as extension of Rte 216)
Exit 58 - Diamond at Morley Rd - Portage, Meadows Rd (upgrade, gravel pit industrial traffic though so maybe not, and may not actually be needed though it would keep some more trucks off section of Tk 4 with a lot of local traffic)
Exit 59 - Diamond at Tk 4 - Portage, Howie Centre, Sydney Forks
Exit 60 - Diamond at Blackett's Lake Rd - Blackett's Lake, Coxheath, Sydney Forks
Exit 61 - Diamond at Mountain Rd - Coxheath
Exit 62E/W - at 125 Diamond with Sydport Access Rd -
E-Sydney, Glace Bay, New Waterford, Louisbourg
W- North Sydney, Sydney Mines, Nfld Ferry
My initial thought was to put a new interchange with 125 east of Prime Brook, but then I remembered the existing barely used interchange at Sydport Access Rd, and figured this alignment would make that interchange more useful and would make the highway easier to access for current Sydport traffic and future container traffic.
The new route, if given a speed limit of 110 (which there's no reason I can see why it shouldn't), would cut the time down to all urban areas in the Sydney region, and would avoid the Kelly's Mountain hairpin which has been the site of many an overturned truck.
North Sydney (1h25min)-18mins vs current 104/4, -6mins vs 105
Sydney (1h19min)-26mins vs 105, -14mins vs current 104/4
Glace Bay (1h32min)-26mins vs 105, -14mins vs current 104/4
New Waterford (1h39min)-26mins vs 105, -14mins vs current 104/4
Louisbourg (2h2min)-26mins vs 105, -14mins vs current 104/4
Because of the decreased travel times, I'm guessing my estimates were a little more of a low-ball than I thought, since I only estimated through traffic to Sydney and East.
I'm still working on the trunks, but since the causeway came up and the proposed Port Hawkesbury bypass was in the news recently, I figured why not put this up for discussion.