Twinning Consultations Dates, Locations Announced

Dates and locations for public consultations on the highway twinning report have been set.

The consultations will present information on how highways can be twinned sooner using tolls. All session are from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The dates and locations are:

• Tuesday Jan. 24 - New Glasgow, Pictou County Wellness Centre, 2756 Westville Rd.
• Tuesday, Jan. 31 - Kentville, Kentville Recreation Centre, 348 Main St.
• Wednesday, Feb. 1 - Windsor, Hants County War Memorial Community Centre, 78 Thomas St.
• Tuesday, Feb. 7, - Bridgewater, Best Western, 527 Highway 10 Exit 12
• Wednesday, Feb. 8 - Chester, Atlantica Oak Island Resort and Conference Centre, 36 Treasure Dr.
• Monday, Feb. 13 - Antigonish, Claymore Inn, 137 Church St.
• Thursday, Feb. 16 - Halifax, Delta Halifax, 1990 Barrington St.
• Tuesday, Feb. 21 - Sydney, Membertou Trade and Convention Centre, 50 Maillard St.
• Wednesday, Feb. 22 - River Bourgeois, Tara Lynne Community Centre, Recreation Rd.
• Thursday, Feb. 23 - Port Hawkesbury, Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre, 606 Reeves St.
• Wednesday, March 1 - Dartmouth, Best Western, 15 Spectacle Lake Dr.

The date and venue for a session in Porters Lake will be announced in the future.

"Nova Scotians have asked us to have this conversation and we want to make sure everyone has the opportunity to have their voice heard," said Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Geoff MacLellan. "Government will only explore tolling further if Nova Scotians tell us to.

"I encourage anyone interested to review the materials and let us know what they think."

In addition to the 12, in-person sessions, feedback can be submitted online at https://novascotia.ca/twinning/ or by mail. All of the materials presented at the sessions, and the complete report, are also available online.

The report was done by CBCL Limited, a locally based engineering firm. It ranks the feasibility of twinning the eight sections of highway based on the analysis of the following criteria:

• safety and the number of collisions
• cost versus projected revenue
• average traffic per day
• travel time and travel cost savings
• environmental concerns
• land acquisition

The eight sections, a total of 301.2 kilometres, included in the study are:

• Highway 101, Three Mile Plains to Falmouth, 9.5 km
• Highway 101, Hortonville to Coldbrook, 24.7 km
• Highway 103, Exit 5 at Tantallon to Exit 12 at Bridgewater, 71 km
• Highway 104, Sutherlands River to Antigonish, 37.8 km
• Highway 104, Taylors Road to Aulds Cove, 38.4 km
• Highway 104, Port Hastings to Port Hawkesbury, 6.75 km
• Highway 104, St. Peter's to Sydney 80 km
• Highway 107, Porters Lake to Duke Street, Bedford 33 km