Twinning on track, in a roundabout way

While it may not be shovel-ready yet, the province of Nova Scotia has said the next phase of the Highway 101 twinning project is on track.

The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal attended the last sitting of Joint Council to outline details of the $45 million project to twin the 9.5 km section from Exit 5 in Three Mile Plains to Exit 7 in Falmouth, which involves a “reconfiguration of interchanges, improved horizontal curve and a minimized highway footprint.”

Here is how it's going to look. There will be new exit ramps installed at Exits 5,6 and 7 that will make getting on and off the highway easier to navigate. A roundabout, similar to the one in Avondale, will be installed at exit 5A. Senior Highway Design Engineer Keith Boddy said it’s a good location for the area’s first roundabout because that exit alone has six points of intersection. “The user is going to notice a reduction in traffic time because they are not going to be waiting at traffic lights or face long line-ups.” He adds the use of roundabouts greatly reduces the risk of collision. “In a circular environment, head-on collisions don't exist. This design is very sympathetic to drivers and their decision-making points are much more obvious. We don't want to make it complicated.”

Eventually, roundabouts will be considered for all exits and interchanges throughout the province. “It's a positive direction and a cost-effective solution for Nova Scotians. In the long run,” he said, “it's a good thing and has already been proven in the rest of Canada.”

In addition, the steep curve between Windsor and Falmouth will be modified to allow for higher speeds up to 110 km/hour, but will require that section of to be built further onto the dyke where the current causeway maintenance building is located. “What that will mean is that long, sharp corner will be gone,” he said. However, the causeway itself is here to stay. Although the Department examined the option of building a bridge alongside the causeway, Senior Highway Planner Dwayne Cross said that option would cost millions more and only result in delaying the project further.

He said widening the causeway would have no negative impacts on the environment. “It’s not going to change the flow pattern from what it has been over the past 30 years. We've conducted extensive environmental evaluation because that is a valuable salt marsh.”

The Department has also completed a flood assessment to be sure the road would be secure in an emergency situation “We want the roadway ‘high and dry’, and from an emergency perspective we need to deal with that possibility.”

Cross adds that although they will not be digging in the silt itself, they will need to backfill some of that area to get the proper elevation.

That section of highway between Exits 6 and 7 will widen to include six lanes, including an auxiliary or 'slowdown' lane to increase safety levels for drivers preparing to merge or exit. “There will be no more bottleneck effect and the smoother, flatter curve will mean drivers won't have to slow down between exits.”

Jersey barriers in place

Unlike the rest of Highway 101, this next phase will be a narrow median with Jersey barriers beginning somewhere around the Gypsum Mines area. Boddy assured council there is no real difference in terms of benefit for driver safety. “It is very site-specific and is the best solution for this application.”

He notes it will be much improved from the current two-lane, two-way traffic and said a wide median would have more impact on the salt marsh area. “We have gone through two years of evaluation to come up with the best solution for this highway and the first thing we considered is safety.”

From an environmental perspective, the initial environmental assessment draft report was completed last spring and the timeline has allowed the department to expand the assessment to include shorebird and rare plant surveys.

The next stop will be a public consultation later this year and submission of the complete EA for Provincial and Federal Review before any funding is handed over.

The construction itself will take up to three years, which Hantsport Mayor Wayne Folker said will “take us to 2014, provided the money is there.”

However, all in all, council approved. West Hants Municipal Warden Richard Dauphinee said council was “very pleased to see that all safety factors were considered during the design process.”

Folker added it was good to finally meet the people behind the highway construction, saying, “we're very proud of the work that has been done.”