Highway 103 Projects Announced

The Nova Scotia government announced today, April 26, two major construction projects for Highway 103. The twinning of a 15-kilometre stretch just outside Halifax and the completion of the Barrington bypass in Shelburne County will cost $28 million over four years.

"These are significant capital investments in better roads for the South Shore," said Ron Russell, Minister of Transportation and Public Works. "And all of it is provincial money. The increased funding in this year's capital roads budget means we can complete projects that are extremely important to the South Shore economy.

"I want to thank the residents, their municipal officials and members of the legislative assembly for being patient as we developed plans and sought funding to complete the bypass at Barrington and the twinning project on the 103 near Halifax," he said.

The Barrington bypass, from Barrington to Oak Park, will see the completion of 8.3 kilometres of a new two-lane controlled-access highway and interchange. The project will cost $12.1 million.

This includes $3.5 million for 2002-03; $2.3 million in 2003-04; $3.3 million in 2004-05; and $3.0 million in 2005-06. So far the department has spent about $3.1 million to clear sections of the right-of-way and to build the roadbed. The new section is due to open in the fall of 2005.

The twinning project in Halifax Regional Municipality will make the highway four lanes from Otter Lake (Exit 3) to Upper Tantallon (Exit 5), about 15 kilometres. It will cost $15.9 million.

Project costs for clearing, roadbed construction, river structure, interchange lengthening and paving are $1.4 million in 2002-03; $4.9 million in 2003-04; $5.7 million in 2004-05 and $3.9 million in 2005-06. The new section is due to open in the fall of 2005.

"These projects are major steps forward, and they'll proceed even as we continue with the current twinning work under way on Highway 101," said Mr. Russell.

Over the next two years, the province will spend $18.9 million to complete the twinning of Highway 101 between Mount Uniacke (Exit 3) and Ellershouse (Exit 4) That section is due to open in the fall of 2003.

"We still have to keep the big picture in mind," added Mr. Russell. "This is just a beginning. Our transportation infrastructure needs major work -- in fact, about $3.5 billion worth over the next decade. Those pressures mean we will continue our efforts to seek a fair, long-term cost-sharing agreement with the federal government."

The recent provincial budget contained $85.5 million in capital funding for road improvements, an increase of $32 million over the previous year.

"We upheld our commitment to put an additional $10 million into roads capital," said Mr. Russell. "We are also dedicating additional revenues from gasoline taxes to highway improvements, and we are continuing to provide $10 million in rural road improvements under the Rural Impact Mitigation program."

The total costs for each year of the Highway 103 projects announced today are:

• 2002-03: $4.86 million
• 2003-04: $7.25 million
• 2004-05: $9 million
• 2005-06: $6.9 million

The Department of Transportation and Public Works' Highways Division manages more than 23,000 kilometres of roads in Nova Scotia. It maintains an inventory of 3,800 bridges and operates seven provincial ferries. Its four district offices are located in Bridgewater, Bedford, Truro and Sydney.