By Ashley Thompson
The commute from the Hants County to Halifax is slowly, but surely, becoming a safer trip for motorists travelling on Nova Scotia’s Highway 101.
MP for Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley, Scott Armstrong, joined Kings North MLA Jim Morton to celebrate the official opening of a four-laned section of Highway 101 between St. Croix and Three Mile Plains Monday, Aug. 9.
The 7.4 kilometre stretch of newly twinned freeway cost about $22 million. The governments of Canada and Nova Scotia joined forces to fund the project, which took five years to complete.
“The job’s not done yet,” Armstrong, who spoke on behalf of Transport Minister John Baird, promised.
“We look forward to the day when we can say we have a truly twinned highway system from one end of the province to the other,” continued Armstrong, addressing about 21 spectators.
Armstrong says the Government of Canada is happy to invest in an infrastructure development plan that will help carry the twinning of the 101 from concept to completion.
On behalf of the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Bill Estabrooks, Morton said the provincial government’s goal is to make the busy road a safer and more efficient travel route.
“Before Highway 101 opened, getting from mid-valley to Halifax by car took about 4 hours. In 1968 this highway reduced that time by half,” Morton recalled.
“I’m old enough to know,” he joked.
Both Morton and Armstrong emphasized the significance of improving road conditions for motorists transporting good and services throughout the province – especially during a time of economic recession.
“Today, increased traffic, a larger population and the growing importance of Halifax makes the twinning of this road more important than ever,” Morton explained.
The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal distributed a press release at the event stating that future work on the 101 will be dividing the section between Three Mile Plains and Falmouth.
Joan Tracey, a Kentville woman who drove the 101 back and forth to Dartmouth for 16 years for work, says promising to improve driving conditions in “the future” is not enough.
“I want the section from three mile plains to the causeway done immediately, if not sooner, because there has been a lot of fatalities there.”
Tracey recalls sharing the two-laned highway with snow ploughs, worrying if the blades would cross the center line, holding her breath as she pulled close to the slush-coated shoulder of the road, and hoping for the best.
But that’s not always what she found.
“The amount of accidents I saw. The amount of fatalities I saw. Sure, this is expensive. But what price can you put on a life?”
