Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced the federal government is contributing $90 million to the twinning of a section of Highway 104 in Nova Scotia.
Trudeau made the announcement in Sutherlands River alongside Premier Stephen McNeil Tuesday morning.
READ MORE: Local fire chief ‘applauds’ Nova Scotia move to speed up twinning of Hwy 104
The project is slated to begin next summer, and will see a 38-kilometre stretch between Sutherlands River and Antigonish twinned. Twenty-eight kilometres of the existing highway will be twinned and a new 10-kilometre, four-lane highway will be built.
“As the people here have demonstrated over the years, this major highway upgrade is essential for the region,” Trudeau said.
“Highway 104 carries 15,000 vehicles a day, including 2,500 trucks, and represents 50 per cent of all container and truck traffic destined for Newfoundland and Labrador.”
Trudeau pointed out the highway has also had many fatal collisions over the years.
“Not only will this project alleviate the bottleneck and get more vehicles moving, but most importantly, it’s also expected to reduce fatalities on this stretch of the highway by 80 per cent,” he said.
Barney’s River Fire Department Chief Joe MacDonald, who has long fought for the twinning of the highway, also spoke at the event.
He recounted how he had seen too many fatal accidents on the “deadly stretch of highway” and said he wrote to the premier and other politicians to ask for the twinning.
“I wrote about the effects that those horrific crashes and the effects on our firefighters and their families, those who have died and have been disabled and scarred for the rest of their lives,” he said, as he became emotional.
“On behalf of families affected by this highway, thank you. Also I would like to thank the people of Nova Scotia who have supported me.”
McNeil told the crowd the province plans to finish the twinning project faster than most highway renovation projects. The plan is to put out tenders to private companies in a P3 model.
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He added the highway will not be tolled and the twinning should be completed by 2024.
Nova Scotia is contributing $195 million to the project, and McNeil told reporters his government was prepared to move forward with the twinning project even if they had not received federal support.
With files from Jeremy Keefe and The Canadian Press