HALIFAX – Reviews of three Nova Scotia highways will be released on Tuesday in response to safety concerns raised by citizens, politicians, police and first responders.
The government studies were conducted on Highways 101, 103 and 104, which run through various parts of the province.
Highway 103 has been called the second-deadliest highway in Canada. Bruce Hetherington, whose son was killed in a collision on the highway in 2008, is among the people advocating for change.
“I don’t want anybody else to go through what we did,” he said, adding that his son was about to celebrate his first Father’s Day.
“We lost our son. My granddaughter lost her father. My daughter-in-law lost her husband — just because the road wasn’t twinned. A guy came across three lanes of highway and ran right into him.”
Thousands of people have signed petitions asking the government to address safety issues on Highway 103. They hope a new study on the three 100-series highways will push the government to start the twinning process.
“It’s long overdue,” said Halifax councillor Matt Whitman. “It’s expensive, but it’s definitely long overdue. We’ve lost too many lives on this highway.”
The study looked at the number of collisions between 2007 and 2012 along the three highways.
On Highway 103, there were 890 collisions in a 274-kilometre stretch, with 22 resulting in deaths.
There were 200 collisions along a 24-kilometre stretch of Highway 104, with 8 that were fatal.
On Highway 101, the government data showed there were 114 collisions, although none resulted in deaths.
The Department of Transportation & Infrastructure Renewal said in some locations, the number of collisions causing serious injury or death has increased in recent years for various reasons, including an uptick in traffic volumes. Detailed reviews will aim to identify safety improvements that can be made in the short and medium terms until more expensive projects can be undertaken.
Work has started on the Ingramport Interchange along Highway 103, which is supposed to provide better access to the highway. The $16-million project is part of the government’s five-year highway improvement plan.
Hetherington said the work there won’t make the road any less dangerous, and he wants to see it twinned.
“They’re spending a lot of money on it and what that’s going to do is get the RCMP, the fire and ambulance out on the highway faster to pick up bodies,” he said. “It wont make the road any safer.”
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