Atlantic Highways Thread

[Smevo]

All routes with lower traffic levels are on the previous page in case you missed them.

All maps made by me in Google.

Rte 303

Max AADT: 12,100

Rte 236

Max AADT: 12,600 (look closely at Truro)

Rte 214

Max AADT: 12,800

Rte 331

Max AADT: 13,700

Rte 318

Max AADT: 14,700

Rte 333

Max AADT: 14,900

Rte 289

Max AADT: 14,900

Rte 311

Max AADT: 16,500

Rte 327

Max AADT: 17,700

Rte 305

Max AADT: 18,980

Rte 325

Max AADT: 19,080

Rte 213

Max AADT: 19,400

Rte 348

Max AADT: 20,600

Rte 354

Max AADT: 25,300

That finishes the collectors. I'm working on the data for the urban area maps now, so I hope to have those up relatively soon.

[Dmajackson]

Since this has become our highway thread for the region;

Tenders Called to Complete Digby County Interchange
Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal
February 18, 2010 12:33 PM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A safer intersection on Highway 101 will be the result of the latest road improvement tender called by the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal.

The tender calls for the construction and paving of roads and ramps to connect the Hectanooga overpass to Highway 101 at Exit 32. This includes repaving Highway 101 from west of Exit 31 for 11.2 kilometres to Salmon River Bridge, and from Salmon River Bridge west for about one kilometre. It also includes paving the interchange ramps and the new alignment of Hectanooga Road.

"Crossing at this exit can be hazardous, especially when fog is coming off the river," said Bill Estabrooks, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal. "This work will make this exit safer for all drivers."

The tender is being cost-shared with the federal government through several different funding programs. It closes on Thursday, Feb. 25 and the project is scheduled for completion by the end of October.

The department's highways division manages more than 23,000 kilometres of roads in Nova Scotia. It maintains 4,100 bridges and operates seven provincial ferries. Staff provide services from district offices in Bridgewater, Bedford, Truro, and Sydney.

[Smevo]

Here's the final maps post for NS. I'll see what I can find on other provinces after this. Until then, we can keep updating on highway construction here.

The urban areas are posted in order of increasing population from the 2006 census (urban area criteria), though some are combined especially in the Halifax region, which of course doesn't make a difference for where it fits. If an urban area doesn't show up here, either it didn't have enough traffic (I made the cutoff an AADT of 5,000) or it may have been combined with another area. These are also only as comprehensive as the data I had from the DOT books, so there's some very obvious busy streets missing in several areas.

All info came from the books "Traffic Volumes Primary Highway System 1999-2008", Nova Scotia Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Traffic Services, April 2009 and "Traffic Volumes Secondary Roads Book 1999-2008", Nova Scotia Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Traffic Services, April 2009. All maps were made by me in Google.

Anyway, enjoy.

Legend is the same as always, but here it is for a reminder.
Grey = 5,001 to 10,000
Blue = 10,001 to 15,000
Green = 15,001 to 20,000
Yellow = 20,001 to 25,000
Orange = 25,001 to 30,000
Red = 30,001 to 35,000
Purple = 35,001 to 40,000
Brown = 40,001 to 50,000
Black = 50,001+

Chester


Lantz


Middleton


Shelburne


Digby


Lunenburg


Berwick


Liverpool


Enfield


Port Hawkesbury


Wolfville


Pictou


Windsor


Antigonish


Kingston-Greenwood


Yarmouth


Bridgewater


Amherst


New Waterford


Kentville


Sydney Mines-North Sydney


Glace Bay


New Glasgow


Truro


Sydney


Halifax

[Dmajackson]

^Wow the Halifax one looks colourful.

Here's an article I read today concerning a proposed new interchange on the 103 near Boutiller's Point;

---

Residents oppose interchange
Highway 103 connector road would damage environment, Estabrooks hears
By DAVID JACKSON Provincial Reporter
Tue. Mar 9 - 4:53 AM

A provincial transportation minister doesn’t get this too often — citizens fighting against better access to a major highway.

But that’s the message Bill Estabrooks is getting from some Ingramport and area residents who would like him to scuttle a proposed connector road running from St. Margarets Bay Road to a point between exits 5 and 6 on Highway 103.

"I said to staff, this is different," Estabrooks said Monday. "(People) are always at us when it comes to twinning. You know, where is the next interchange going to be? Can we have an interchange come to this community or that community? And this is the reverse."

The Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Department has been considering an interchange between the Tantallon and Hubbards exits to go with the planned twinning of that section.

The exits are about 22 kilometres apart, Estabrooks said. Department spokeswoman Cathy MacIsaac said the modern standard is about 10 kilometres.

Sean Kirby, one of the residents lobbying Estabrooks to dump the planned connector road, said his home in Ingramport is midway between the exits and he can get on the highway in either direction in about 10 minutes.

Kirby said he was part of a small group that met with Transportation Department officials a little more than a month ago to get more details on the proposal and now he is trying to spread the word about it.

"The overwhelming response from people has been opposition to it," Kirby said Monday.

"It would be damaging to the environment, and particularly in this fiscal context, it really makes no sense to be spending taxpayers’ dollars on a road people don’t want when there are so many other better uses for it."

The cost of the road would be about $10 million.

Kirby said he and a couple of other people set up a website called www.protectthebay.ca. It features an artist’s take on how the road would cut through the hill beside St. Margarets Bay Road and describes how that section of road already has a dangerous curve in that area.

The department is planning an open house for this fall, but Kirby said he hopes the department will move that up to the spring.

Estabrooks, the MLA in neighbouring Timberlea-Prospect, said he hopes he and fellow New Democrat Denise Peterson-Rafuse, who represents Chester-St. Margarets, will be able to hold a community meeting before summer.

"If the community’s not interested in having it, and it’s the wishes of the community clearly expressed, this transportation minister’s going to listen to them," Estabrooks said.

MacIsaac said the department’s target, if the proposal goes ahead, would be to have a tender for construction ready in late 2011 or early 2012.

( djackson@herald.ca )

[Dmajackson]

Highway 105 Designated Mabel and Alexander Graham Bell Way
Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal
March 10, 2010 10:05 AM

Highway 105 was designated Mabel and Alexander Graham Bell Way today, March 10, to recognize the Bells' contribution to telecommunications, hydrofoils, aeronautics and their work with the deaf community.

MLA Gordie Gosse, on behalf of Bill Estabrooks, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal, announced the designation in Baddeck at the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site.

"Naming Highway 105 in honour of Mabel and Alexander Graham Bell serves as an ongoing tribute to their contributions to the community, the province and the world," said Mr. Gosse.

March 10 is a significant day in the history of one of Alexander Graham Bell's most notable inventions as the first sentence was clearly transmitted over the telephone on this date in 1876.

Other highway designations include Peacekeepers Way, Miners Memorial, and Veterans Memorial Highway. In the interest of safety, the highway will continue to be referred to as Highway 105 by emergency personnel.

Alexander Graham Bell was born on March 3, 1847, in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1870, he and his family moved to Canada.
Mr. Bell invented the telephone in 1876 and married Mabel Hubbard the same year. Bell is also known for his role with the flight of first powered aircraft in Canada in 1909, the Silver Dart.

---

This somehow doesn't surprise me ...

Just for clarification the named highways are;

Peacekeepers Way - Highway 125
Miners Memorial - Highway 104 (Springhill Mine Disaster)
Veterans Memorial Highway - Highway 102 (also Bicentennial Highway)

There are also the tourism designations but there are to many to list really.

[Dmajackson]

Looks like the Three Miles Plains to St. Croix twinned section of the 101 here in Nova Scotia is finally going to be paved and opened in late August.

They've been working on the section for over three years now.

[Smevo]

So I went looking for PEI info and can't find it anywhere, same story for NB, and for NL. Even the traffic advisories and construction page for PEI has no info that I could find. Here's some NB advisories and construction projects though.

New Brunswick Traffic Advisories Page

New Brunswick Rte 1 Gateway Project

NB Proposed Projects
Including:
Rte 11:
Acadian Peninsula - 46-kilometre bypass from Pokemouche to Janeville

* Public Information Session in Paquetville November 10, 2009
* Construction to begin 2013 or earlier
* Estimated project costs $200-million

South East New Brunswick
Twinning of 35 kilometres between Route 15 at Shediac and the Girouardville Road in Bouctouche

* Two public information sessions have been held
* Phase 1 of project to expand Route 11 between Moncton to Miramichi to four lanes
* Estimated investment of $942 million

Kent County and Miramichi
Twinning of 21-kilometres between Bouctouche and the Richibouctou River

* Public Information Session held October 27, 2009
* Phase 2 of project to twin Route 11 between Moncton and Miramichi
* Phase 3 involves the twinning of 65 kilometres of highway and several bridges and interchanges from the Richibouctou River to Miramichi
* Preconstruction work is being completed


Rte 7:
Welsford
10.7-kilometre bypass between Welsford and Nerepis

* Construction has started. Seven contracts awarded so far.
* Completion date 2012
* Estimated project costs $65 million. Funded by the Goverments of New Brunswick and Canada

Completion of the Highland Road Interchange in Grand Bay-Westfield – paving of 4.1 kilometres

Rte 1:
Saint John
One Mile House Interchange

* Phase 2 of construction has started.
* Grading, paving and viaduct substructure contracts awarded.
* Project includes a 600-metre structure and associated ramps and roadways that will connect Route 1 to Bayside Drive, and cross the CN rail yard, Marsh Creek and Rothesay Avenue
* Completion date 2012.
* Estimated project costs $65 million. Funded by the Governments of New Brunswick and Canada

Rte 2:
Moncton
Major $6.3 million realignment of the westbound lanes of the Route 2 / Route 134 interchange in Moncton

* Project includes two new bridges at Cooks Brook and CNR overpass on the former Shediac Road)
* $2.95 million to pave 8.4 kilometres of the westbound lanes of Route 2 between Cooks Brook and Mapleton Road

Rte 8:
Fredericton
36 kilometre Marysville – Nashwaak Bypass

* Construction started in 2007 and continues with several contracts. $34.9 budgeted for 2009-2010
* Target completion date 2014
* Estimated project costs $124 million. Funded by the Governments of New Brunswick and Canada

Fredericton
Princess Margaret Bridge Rehabilitation project

* Bridge was built in 1957.
* Construction for Phase 1 continues (Marid Industries Ltd)
* Completion date 2011

(Much more information on the page itself)

Princess Margaret Bridge closure information

Madawaska Maliseet First Nation Rte 2 Interchange

Rte 2, Quebec Border to Saint-Jacques

[ConundrumNL]

Lets see if I can restart this thread. As a continuation to my original post months ago.

Freeways of Metro St. John's.

1. Route 1/TCH (Outer Ring Road)

Part of the Trans Canada Highway. It's a 4 lane freeway that provides quick access to most sections of St. John's, Paradise, and Route 2 before continuing west to the interior of the island. Route 1 is designated Outer Ring Road after the Route 2 overpass (Exit 41) until the highway ends at Logy Bay Road (Exit 50)

2. Route 2 (Pitts Memorial Drive)

4 lane freeway that connects Downtown St. John's to Killbride, The Parkway, The Goulds, Mount Pearl, Route 1, and Conception Bay South (CBS). At the Manuels Overpass Route 2 converts into a 2 lane highway and continues into CBS eventually ending at the Legion Rd overpass.

3. Route 3a (Team Gushue Highway) **Under Construction**

When complete the Route 3a will connect Route 1 (Outer Ring Rd) to Goldstone St/Kelsey Dr, Kenmount Rd, Old Pennywell Rd, Blackmarsh Rd, Topsail Rd (Route 60), Brookfield Rd, and Route 2 before continuing into the Goulds as Route 3.

Route 3a is named for the 2006 Olympic Men's Curling champions. As of this post the 3a connects Goldstone St/Kelsey Dr, and Kenmount Rd to the Route 1 (Outer Ring Rd). There is an on-going dispute between St. John's and Mount Pearl over maintenance funding for the highway that has delayed the start of construction on the remaining sections. However construction is scheduled to begin again in summer 2010.

In my next post I will be covering the major non-freeway roads of the St. John's metro.

I also purpose re-naming this thread to the Atlantic Highway Thread, so it can be used as the main thread to post news and discuss highways/roads throughout the region.

[David1gray]

TCH 106 here in pictou county has been stripped of all the old asphalt, repaving should begin this week.

TCH 104 twinning from new glasgow to sutherlands river is still under construction. last time i was past this area was the beginning of may, around that time they had been creating a sort of detour around one of the old bridges onto a new one to fix up the old one. no idea when this one will be finished, in the next 2 years im hoping.

TCH 104 twinning(antigonish bypass) again, last time i was past this area was the beginning of may. lots of land had been cleared, construction of the brierly brook turnoff(i think thats the name of the place) over pass had been well underway. more info here: http://www.104antigonish.ca/

an intersting note is that almost if not all of the exits are going to have roundabouts involved.

anyways thats whats up in northern nova scotia. there are a few smaller things going on but ill will save those for another day.

[Smevo]

^I hope they keep their photos page updated fairly frequently. I can't wait until these sections are open and they start planning the rest of the twinning. Interesting that they're using roundabouts. I like roundabouts and all, but does anyone else feel like DOT is getting a little carried away with them?

Originally Posted by ConundrumNL

I also purpose re-naming this thread to the Atlantic Highway Thread, so it can be used as the main thread to post news and discuss highways/roads throughout the region.

Any mods out there want to do this?

[David1gray]

ya its one of those times when there is too much of a good thing going on... ill be driving around these a lot once they are complete, because i go to STFX and going to circles will probably get annoying eventually.

oh and another note, the roundabout being constructed in stellarton, exit 24 on the TCH is closed during the day for construction of this roundabout. which is coming along faster then i expected it to. curbs are almost all done and soon all that will be left to do is the asphalt.

[kirjtc2]

No idea how I missed this, but there's some traffic data for entrances into Fredericton on page 21 here:

http://www.fredericton.ca/en/transpo...e_20100323.pdf

I knew Hanwell Road was busy...but the busiest gateway into the city? Wow.

[Smevo]

Traffic data in NB available? The apocalypse is upon us!

Ok, shock is over, time to go look at it now.

[kirjtc2]

A convo on facebook got me wondering...

About 20 years ago (I think), the DOT acquired land for a northern bypass of Miramichi. They cleared the right-of-way and then never built most of it, instead building the new bridge and southern bypass from Newcastle to Chatham.

Anyone know if they're ever planning on finishing it?

[Joe]

Saint John
35 million Harbour Bridge upgrade. This will include a new deck and surface, lighting, median, side walls and rails. The Bridge will remain open during construction, but there will be lane closures, which will result in delays during morning and evening rush hours.
Phase 1 in progress. Completion date, October/2010
Phase 2 to start in spring 2011. Completion date, October/2011

[itom 987]

I changed the name of this thread from Highway Traffic to Atlantic Highways Thread. As per Smevo's request.

[Smevo]

^Thanks itom 987.

The Kelly's Mtn Hairpin on the TCH-105 claims another one:
http://www.capebretonpost.com/News/L...3Bs-Mountain/1

Semi trailer overturns at Kelly’s Mountain

Published on July 24th, 2010
Staff ~ The Cape Breton Post

BADDECK — No injuries were reported after a semi trailer overturned near the base of Kelly’s Mountain late Friday night.

RCMP report the vehicle crashed around 9:55 p.m. and continues to rest on its side against a guard rail in the Westbound lane of Highway 105 near New Campbellton Road.

...

[Dmajackson]

Next twinned section of Highway 101 complete
By THE CANADIAN PRESS
Mon, Aug 9 - 12:45 PM

Nova Scotia's Highway 101 has a new four lane section through a 7.4-kilometre stretch of Hants County.

The five-year twinning project between St. Croix and Three Mile Plains was recently completed at a cost of about $22 million.

The project was jointly funded by the province and the federal government.

Two years ago the twinning of a section between Falmouth and Avonport was completed.

The Transportation Department says future work will be done on a section between Three Mile Plains and Falmouth.

I'll be through the area later this week so I'll make sure to test out the new section.

[ConundrumNL]

Posted this in the St. John's thread, but figured I'd post here to.

N.L. to fix road ruts near St. John's

The provincial government is calling for tenders to repair ruts in three major roads in and around St. John's.

The tender call covers the Conception Bay South Bypass Road, the Outer Ring Road and Torbay Road.

In total, nearly 13 kilometres of roadway will be repaired.

Motorists have complained for years that the ruts are hazardous, especially when it rains and cars can hydroplane on water that collects in the ruts.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundlan...nders-805.html


Do the other Atlantic Provinces have problems like this, or is it unique to NL?

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by ConundrumNL

Posted this in the St. John's thread, but figured I'd post here to.



http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundlan...nders-805.html


Do the other Atlantic Provinces have problems like this, or is it unique to NL?

It might just be because I drive an older model Civic but I find the more well-used the road the more likely I'll hydroplane which might be related to ruts in the road.

I live near Magazine Hill (one of the busiest highways in NS) and at the top of the hill were it use to level off there's now a small dip in the road that even after a small amount of rain can cause most cars to hydroplane. Just a hundred metres or so further up the road there used to be a small dip in the road (developed over decades of heavy truck use and no paving) that 3 years ago collapsed into a very deep sinkhole. I'll never forget the day they paved that. Being paid by the government they choose the evening rush hour and closed the entire lane down right into Burnside. It took something like 3 hours to get from the MacKay Bridge to Dartmouth Road ...