Enhanced Distance Marker Project Increases Safety

EMERGENCY MEASURES ORGANIZATION--Enhanced Distance Marker Project Increases Safety

Nova Scotia's Emergency Measures Organization, in partnership with the Department of Transportation and Public Works, is expanding its distance marker pilot project. The expanded project will make it easier and faster for responders to determine the location of an emergency along Nova Scotia's highways.

The enhanced project will improve the initial distance marker project, which was introduced more than two years ago. The biggest improvement is the increased size and additional information on the distance marker signs.

"As the holiday season approaches and Nova Scotians are travelling on highways to visit family and friends, I encourage them to take special note of the new distance marker signs," said Tim Olive, Minister responsible for the Emergency Measures Act. "Not only will these signs tell emergency personnel where to send response vehicles by having the direction they are travelling posted, it will also direct them to the right side of the divided highway for even faster response time."

The new signs, which are located at one-kilometre intervals along portions of the province's 100-series highways, tell the driver the highway number, direction they are travelling, and their particular location along the highway.

Highways that now have distance markers along the side of the road include: Highway 101 from Halifax to Kentville; Highway 102 from Halifax to Truro; Highway 103 from Halifax to Bridgewater; Highway 107 from Dartmouth to Musquodoboit Harbour; and Highway 118 from Dartmouth to Highway 102. Plans are under way to include the rest of the 100-series highways over the next four years. Funding for the project is made possible through the 9-1-1 cost- recovery fund.

About 30 per cent of all calls to 9-1-1 are made by cellular callers, many of which are reporting emergencies along Nova Scotia's highways. Unlike wireline calls, cellular calls do not currently transfer data on a caller's location. It is therefore up to the caller to describe the exact location of the emergency. Travelling on unfamiliar highways can make this process even more difficult. With the new distance markers, cellular callers can now refer to the information on the nearest distance marker to assist the 9-1-1 call taker and emergency responders in identifying the location of an emergency.

"Distance marker signs will improve public safety along Nova Scotia's highways," said Mr. Olive. "This project is just one of a number of improvements during the past year that has continued to keep Nova Scotia on the leading edge with its emergency 9-1-1 system."

Other improvements include the successful implementation of new 9-1-1 call-answering equipment. This new system provides many advantages over the previous system, including the ability to receive calls faster and to provide better tracking of 9-1-1 calls. Advances have also been made in the ability to receive more information when calls are made to 9-1-1 from cellular phones and an enhanced training program for 9-1-1 call takers was also initiated.