Preliminary work on the twinned highway from Sutherlands River to Antigonish has started.
“Clearing of the 104 (project) has already begun,” said Marla MacInnis, a spokesperson with the provincial Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal.
The 104 twinning project encompasses a 38-kilometre stretch from Sutherland’s River to Addington Forks, Antigonish County, just outside Antigonish.
The current two-lane highway has seen more than 20 highway fatalities recorded in the last decade.
The project includes the construction of two new lanes adjacent to the existing highway from Exit 27 to a location near the community of Barney’s River Station (17 kms); approximately 10 km of new four-lane divided highway through a wooded area to bypass the existing highway through Marshy Hope; and two new lanes adjacent to existing highway from the new four lane section to just west of the Addington Forks Interchange (Exit 31) at Antigonish (approx. 11 kms)," MacInnis said.
Tree clearing for the project started in November 2019. R. MacLean Forestry Limited was awarded the tree clearing contract for the project.
Construction on the highway itself is expected to start this year and be completed sometime in 2023. The province is currently reviewing bids from a trio of P3 consortiums, with the winning bid expected to be revealed by the end of this month, or in early February.
MacInnis said they do anticipate that there will be some disruption to traffic through that area during the construction phase.
"We will ensure the public is notified ahead of disruptions," she said.
IN THE MEANTIME?
Pictou Centre MLA Pat Dunn, the transportation critic for the provincial Conservatives, said there is at least one safety measure that could be put in place that may potentially reduce the number of accidents in the current two-lane highway. “One of the things I’d like to see if the use of rumble strips on the centre lane,” said Dunn.
He added that driver error and risk-taking are two major factors behind the majority of the car crashes between Sutherland’s River and Antigonish.
“(The cause of) a lot of the mishaps we see on that highway – not all – is driver error and speed. And, you see a lot of impatience.”
As for the idea of reducing the current speed limit from 100 kilometres per hour to 90 until the twinned highway is finished?
“That’s been suggested,” he said. “I’ve been in groups where that is mentioned, and it’s been scoffed at.”
