Two Construction Contracts Awarded for Highway 103 in Halifax County

The twinning of Highway 103 between Halifax and the Tantallon area has taken two more steps toward completion with the awarding of two construction contracts by the province.

The first contract is for the construction of the roadbed, as well as, grading and gravelling for the two new westbound lanes from east of Exit 5 for 2.7 kilometres to Exit 5. The contract was awarded to Dexter Construction Co. Ltd. with a bid of $3,743,250.

The second contract is for the construction of an overpass to carry the new westbound lanes of Highway 103 over the trail of the Beechville Lakeside Timberlea Rails to Trails Association. The trail is on the abandoned rail line near Cranberry Lake. The contract was awarded to J.R. Eisner Contracting Limited with a bid of $447,500.

"These construction contracts are the final ones necessary to prepare for the twinning of Highway 103 between exits 3 and 5," said Ron Russell, Minister of Transportation and Public Works. "Once they're complete we will have about 20 kilometres of paving to do next year to finish the job."

The Department of Transportation and Public Works highways division manages more than 23,000 kilometres of roads in Nova Scotia. It maintains 4,100 bridges and operates seven provincial ferries. Staff provide services from offices in Bridgewater, Bedford, Truro and Sydney.