EKCC calls for Highway 101 twinning timeline

It’s not proceeding fast enough.

The Eastern Kings Chamber of Commerce is calling for a renewed commitment to Highway 101 twinning to Coldbrook.

Chamber officials say that it has been a long time since the provincial government first stated the twinning of Highway 101 to Coldbrook was one of its top priorities. But, to date, no commitment has been made to a timeline. Yet over the past few months, a number of announcements for infrastructure improvements in other parts of the province have been made.

“We are asking the Nova Scotia government to make a commitment to have Highway 101 twinned to Coldbrook by 2012,” Eastern Kings Chamber of Commerce president Greg Young. “And we want improvements further west to follow.”

In advocating Nova Scotia’s government to commit to a timeline, the EKCC has identified five reasons to support twinning to Coldbrook, along with further improvements on the highway west of that community:

-Public safety - twinning will not eliminate accidents but will generally reduce them to single vehicles.

-Attracting growth - opportunities exist to attract business and residential development with improved transportation infrastructure

-Export of goods - new and existing manufacturing and agri-food businesses are net exporters, making access to ports and efficient, twinned highways a necessity.

-Gateway connection - gives a connection to an Atlantic Gateway initiative with continued access to Yarmouth and Digby ports.

-Tourism and shopping - encourages the continued development of Kings County as a shopping hub for western Nova Scotia, as well as the growth of agri-tourism opportunities.