^You're Port Hawkesbury bypass route inspired me to take a closer look at my route and make some revisions. I actually made two options, one ending at Sydport Access Rd and the second ending at Hwy 125 in between the current Exits 7 and 8 (New 125 exit would be 7A).
I worked around property lines at first, then worked around terrain (eyeballed it rather than going through the work of trying to balance cut/fill), then double checked for property line issues.
Option 1
Exits (the first chunk is just a copy of Bedford DJ's exit scheme, since I think it works quite well):
Exit 39 - Trunk 4 Connecter & Toll Booths (Aulac/Mulgrave/Port Hastings/Inverness)
Exit 40 - Trunk 105 near Port Hastings (Port Hastings/Whycocomagh/Baddeck/Cabot Trail)
Exit 41 - Kings Road (Port Hawkesbury)
Exit 42 - Crandall Road (Port Hawkesbury)
Exit 43 - Paint Street/Trunk 4 (existing) (Port Hawkesbury/Cleveland)
Exit 44 - Port Malcolm Rd/Lower River Rd (Lower River Inhabitants)
Exit 45 - Evanston Rd (Evanston/Whiteside)
Exit 46 - Route 320 (existing) (Louisdale/Isle Madame)
Exit 47 - Sporting Mountain Rd near Gannes (existing)
Exit 48 - Trunk 4 Connector (River Tillard/St. Peter's)
Exit 49 - Oban Rd (St. Peter's/Oban)
Exit 50 - Pepperell St (St. Peter's/West Bay/Sampsonville/L'Ardoise)
Exit 51 - Trunk 4 (Lynche River/Barra Head)
Exit 52 - Soldier's Cove Rd (Soldier's Cove/Potlotek)
Exit 53 - Hwy Cove Rd (Johnstown/Lake Uist/Loch Lomond)
Exit 54 - Irish Cove Rd (Irish Cove/Lake Uist)
Exit 55 - Loch Lomond Rd (Big Pond/Terra Nova/Lake Uist/Loch Lomond)
Exit 56 - Trunk 4 (Big Pond/Ben Eion)
Exit 57 - Rte 216 (East Bay/Eskasoni/Iona)
Exit 58 - Gillis Lake Rd (East Bay/Blackett's Lake/Sydney Forks)
Exit 59 - Mountain Rd (Coxheath)
Exit 60 E/W - Hwy 125 at Sydport Access Rd (E-Sydney/Membertou/Louisbourg/Glace Bay/New Waterford
W- North Sydney/Sydney Mines/Newfoundland Ferry)
Option 2
Red is where the route differs from Option 1, so I'll just start the exits from River Tillard.
Exits:
Exit 48 - Trunk 4 Connector (River Tillard/St. Peter's)
Exit 49 - Oban Rd (St. Peter's/Oban)
Exit 50 - Pepperell St (St. Peter's/West Bay/Sampsonville/L'Ardoise)
Exit 51 - Trunk 4 (Lynche River/Barra Head)
Exit 52 - Soldier's Cove Rd (Soldier's Cove/Potlotek/Johnstown)
Exit 53 - Hwy Cove Rd (Lake Uist/Loch Lomond)
Exit 54 - Irish Cove Rd (Irish Cove/Lake Uist)
Exit 55 - Loch Lomond Rd (Big Pond/Terra Nova/Enon/Ben Eion)
Exit 56 - Morley Rd (Portage/East Bay/Marion Bridge/Ben Eion)
Exit 57 - Rte 327 (Gabarus/Marion Bridge)
Exit 58 - Caribou Marsh Rd (Caribou Marsh/Front Lake)
Exit 59 - Front Lake Rd (Dutch Brook/Front Lake/Prime Brook)
Exit 60 E/W - Hwy 125 between Exits 7 & 8 (would be 7A on Hwy 125) (E-Sydney/Louisbourg/Glace Bay/New Waterford
W- Sydney/Membertou/North Sydney/Sydney Mines/Newfoundland Ferry)
Option 1 cuts down times from the current fastest route this way (all measured to downtown, except North Sydney which is to NL Ferry Terminal):
North Sydney - 12 minutes
Sydney - 20 minutes
Glace Bay - 20 minutes
New Waterford - 20 minutes
Louisbourg - 20 minutes
Options 2 cuts them down this way:
North Sydney - 5 minutes
Sydney - 16 minutes
Glace Bay - 22 minutes
New Waterford - 22 minutes
Louisbourg - 21 minutes.
I'd still like to see others thoughts on this, since, as you can see it gets me thinking about my own routes.
