Quote:
Originally Posted by JHikka
We shouldn't be twinning highways simply because we have nothing better to do. If they meet traffic counts then sure, otherwise there's no real point other than to make ourselves feel better. Until Route 7 starts showing an increase in traffic counts for its full length the idea of twinning it for its full length should remain on the shelf, no matter how much people in SJ/Fredericton scoff at Bouctouche having a pretty new twinned highway.
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I never said 'full length'; I said between the existing 4-lane sections near Saint John and past Welsford. My reasoning is pretty simple: since the Welsford bypass was constructed as a 4-lane stretch, we now have an 'orphaned' 2-lane stretch between that and Grand Bay. Welsford is also about the limit of Saint John's major commuter communities so it makes reasonable sense as a place for 4 lanes from Saint John to narrow back down to 2 through Frederiction, especially with the provision of the 4-lane segment at Petersville as a midway point 'separation filter'. A few more passing lanes wouldn't hurt, though.
Putting that aside, even apart from twinning, one change I'd really like to see would be to have the second lane carried forward at the Grand Bay exit, instead of the two lanes merging into one and then having the exit merge out again. IMO, it should just have the two lanes right through with overhead signage indicating to motorists to get in the left lane to continue on Route 7, and the right lane for Grand Bay-Westfield. It's no end of irritating how people slow down traffic by slowing down to 80-90 just because the exit is coming up in the distance. Too many people in NB who don't know how to merge and diverge on and off highways.