Start: June 2020
End: No later than end of 2023
Cost: $718M???? I thought it was $285. Or does it become $718M once financed over 20 years? I mean, $18.9M (up from $7.5M) per km is a bit outrageous.
Holy smokes, the timeline means this stretch of N.S.-104 will be done before A85!
"Phase III will complete Autoroute 85, which will connect Autoroute 20 at Notre-Dame-du-Portage to the New Brunswick border. A gradual roll-out of this final section of Autoroute 85 is slated to begin in 2021."
A gradual rollout, that’s the key word. I think this is what will happen, based on all the French articles that I’ve read:
The ones that are under construction now will be operational in 2021, but it won’t be before 2025 that all 7 sections of phase 3 are ready to go. In fact, 2 of the most deadly stretches, sections 4 & 7, were still being planned a while back. (Section 7 is the hill between St-Honoré-de-Témiscouata and La Savanne.)
This is just to give you guys an idea of what a 104 realignment at Oxford would look like, and why they likely won't do it. As far as I'm concerned, although not super heavily traveled, this is a very important section of highway 104 given that it is the only major route in and out of Nova Scotia. A north bypass of Oxford would be ridiculous, and quite the detour. This is just a rough design, which has some issues like the fact that it crosses the tracks twice and 2 interchanges would need to be completely re-done. It also crosses River Phillip at the interchange with the 321. Fortunately, the topography of the area isn't actually brutal, so it would be a relatively straight run. The area between the existing interchange at Oxford and the new one along the 321 seems sufficient enough to carry traffic in and out of Oxford. As we all know, Nova Scotia likes to be very cheap with this sort of thing so a multi-million dollar bypass like so would likely never happen. Again, rough idea, not perfect.
When the Trans Canada Highway over Kelly's Mountain and new Seal Island Bridge opened on Cape Breton Island in 1961...two Provincial Highway Ferry routes were abandoned but 59 years later a lot of that old ferry infrastructure is still there!
Prior to the opening of the Seal Island Bridge....to reach Baddeck from Sydney you followed old Provincial Highway #5 to Ross Ferry.....then took a short ferry over to Big Harbour just north of Baddeck. There was also another ferry at Big Bras d'Or to New Campbellton. The new bridge was located about midway between the two ferries.
Here's a portion of the 1953 Nova Scotia Highway Map. Back then.....you had to take a ferry just to reach Cape Breton from Mulgrave on the mainland as the Canso Causeway didn't open until 1955. (there was also a separate railcar ferry between Mulgrave and Point Tupper (Port Hawkesbury) Highway #4 was the main route to Sydney and it crossed the St. Peter's Canal on a one-lane swing-bridge.....but you could reach the rest of Cape Breton via five Provincial Highway Ferries at: Little Narrows, Grand Narrows, Ross Ferry, Bras d'Or and Englishtown.
And while we're on Ferry Routes in the Maritimes.......the CTMA (Coopérative de Transport Maritime et Aérien) Ferry that operates between Souris, Prince Edward Island and the Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec will be replaced next year by a new ferry that's currently operating between Spain and Morocco. Nice video here of that Cruise Ship like Ferry:
Prior to the opening of the Seal Island Bridge....to reach Baddeck from Sydney you followed old Provincial Highway #5 to Ross Ferry.....then took a short ferry over to Big Harbour just north of Baddeck.
Back then......it was a 2 hr bus ride between Sydney and Baddeck via Ross Ferry/Big Harbour. Today it takes 55 min on the TCH and Seal Island Bridge.....and Cheticamp: 5 hrs vs. 2 hrs today:
News release Province, Dexter Nova Alliance Break Ground on Highway 104 Twinning Project
Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal
July 17, 2020 - 1:43 PM
Construction has begun for the twinning of the Highway 104 between Sutherlands River, Pictou Co. and Antigonish.
Crews and machinery broke ground today, July 17. The $718 million project will make the highway safer for motorists and improve the efficiency of one the province’s most important transportation corridors.
“This project will save lives and provide travellers and business with a high-quality highway for many years to come,” said Lloyd Hines, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal. “A safe and efficient highway system is essential to the economic and social well-being of Nova Scotia. Our partnership with Dexter Nova Alliance will deliver on that goal.”
Dexter Nova Alliance, led by local contractors Dexter Construction and Nova Construction, with BBGI as an equity partner, was awarded the contract to design, build, finance, operate and maintain a section of Highway 104 in May.
Construction will be completed before the end of 2023.
The Highway 104 project, part of the Trans-Canada Highway, consists of construction of a twinned highway beginning east of New Glasgow near Exit 27 at Sutherlands River, and running east to just west of Exit 31.
The project includes 28 kilometres of new two-lane twinned highway and 10 kilometres of new four-lane twinned highway. There are two new interchanges and about 24 new bridges. Dexter Nova Alliance will also upgrade the existing section of highway.
The federal government is contributing $90 million to the project under the National Trade Corridors Fund.
Brittany Wentzell · CBC · Posted: Aug 21, 2020 6:00 AM AT | Last Updated: August 21
Sheldon Marinelli, president of Northern Contracting, is shown with Gary MacQueen, site inspector, and Alex Small, project engineer with the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal. (Brittany Wentzell/CBC)
A stretch of road about a kilometre long just outside of Sydney will soon be home to its first of three roundabouts.
Kings Road in Sydney River is a main route in and out of Sydney. Many businesses line the roadway and that often leads drivers to cross multiple lanes while turning left into parking lots.
But officials with the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal are hopeful the roundabouts will reduce congestion and lead to fewer accidents.
...
The linked article has diagrams of the new roundabouts.
I'm reposting this article from the main Moncton thread here too, primarily because this is more than a repaving project, and includes a very necessary lengthening of the Paul Street onramp onto Highway 15
Major Moncton traffic circle may (will be) close(d) for two weeks in September Province plans to close Route 15 traffic circle to repave area used by 70,000 vehicles daily
Shane Magee · CBC News · Posted: Aug 24, 2020 4:49 PM AT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago
Quote:
The work will see the ramp from Paul Street onto Route 15 extended 170 metres to provide better sight lines from the overpass, Morency-Cormier said.
The staff report says the province also plans to repave the intersection of Botsford Street and Wheeler Boulevard as well as the Route 15 interchange with Paul Street.
The extension of the onramp from Paul Street onto the traffic circle makes my heart swell with joy. The current onramp is waaaay too short and an accident waiting to happen. I refuse to use it and, instead, just drive west on Lewisville to Botsford and get on Highway 15 there. I'm glad to see that they realize there is a problem there.......
Red markings show the extend of where construction work on the Route 15 traffic circle will take place over the coming weeks. (City of Moncton)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwpXZtG7hUo
A very recent video of N.S.-103 twinning:
1:15* - The Halifax-bound passing lane will be to stay.
2:31 - Yarmouth-bound passing lane has been taken out.
4:30* - same thing as 1:15
...
* Or maybe the current Yarmouth-bound lane will be taken out once twinning's done.
I have been wondering what could be done to revitalize the Haymarket Square area of Saint John, where the Crown overpass runs across highway 1.
My first thought would be to abolish Marsh St. to the west of the overpass and drop it to street level where it meets City Road, leaving the existing onramp to 1 eastbound intact and adding a westbound one.
At the intersection where the overpass would now meet City Road/Rothesay Avenue and Haymarket Square, reconfigure Haymarket Square to align better with Waterloo (allowing two-way traffic) and the top end of Crown. Keep the Crown-to-Rothesay street as is.
No need for a roundabout, the area is coated in lights already and this would reduce it to one set.
Would create an entirely new block where the current overpass has its south end, and make the area less of a sheet of confusing concrete.
The Somerset overpass to the west should also stop well before it does. A T interchange with Station or a roundabout would both be appropriate, maybe a second roundabout at Station and Garden. That would open up poor Dorchester, Hazen, and Garden for development without impacting access to the highway, Harbour Station, or the parking garage.
I don't think the Wall overpass to uptown is particularly bad or difficult to live with. It needs a dedicated lane from the highway to Union/St Patrick, but any other change would be hard with so little space to do anything.
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