Atlantic Highways Thread

[Ire Narissis]

Wow, I never thought we'd see the rest of A85 twinned within a decade. The remaining section is a heck of a geographical challenge with the very hilly terrain.

[Taeolas]

Originally Posted by Ire Narissis

Wow, I never thought we'd see the rest of A85 twinned within a decade. The remaining section is a heck of a geographical challenge with the very hilly terrain.

Well to be fair, they waited 5+ years before announcing the final bit of work. I've been hearing the 2025 target tossed around for a long while now.

I just drove back along that route a few weeks ago. It'll be nice to see it finally complete and smooth sailing all the way Quebec. It does look like a lot of prep work is already done; you can see areas where they've cleared for the second road already, and some areas where it looks like a new route will be carved out.

[Dengler Avenue]

Interesting.

When I was driving on Route 185 in late August, I did see construction vehicles but no cleared path for the second set of lanes.

Also it’s surprising to see that 38 km of freeway will cost $947M ($0.947B) in total. In comparison, twinning 274 km of QC 175 (extension of A73) cost $1.100B and the terrain was much worse.

What’s the reason for such high cost? Property expropriation (which I’ve heard has been a major obstacle)? Negotiation with Whitworth FN? Overpasses and interchanges?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Interesting.

When I was driving on Route 185 in late August, I did see construction vehicles but no cleared path for the second set of lanes.

Also it’s surprising to see that 38 km of freeway will cost $947M ($0.947B) in total. In comparison, twinning 274 km of QC 175 (extension of A73) cost $1.100B and the terrain was much worse.

What’s the reason for such high cost? Property expropriation (which I’ve heard has been a major obstacle)? Negotiation with Whitworth FN? Overpasses and interchanges?

I thought almost $1B was the price tag for the entire 100 km route from RDL to the NB border?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Ire Narissis

Wow, I never thought we'd see the rest of A85 twinned within a decade. The remaining section is a heck of a geographical challenge with the very hilly terrain.

I am quite familiar with the route and you'd think they could use the same "clearway" for much of the remaining 40 km, and simply build a second road next to the one that's already there, and refurbish and upgrade the existing two-laner.

The remaining segment to be twinned is much less populated and developed than the segments to the north and south which are already done.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I thought almost $1B was the price tag for the entire 100 km route from RDL to the NB border?

Even then that’s still quite a bit.

[LiamCarroll]

I thought this could be phase 1, making it possible to eventually replace the southbound loop with a direct ramp structure much like the green one. It makes for a much more pleasant turn, also considering it being a banked ramp.
Southbound traffic would follow the current 102 alignment. Sadly no project is in the 10 year plan. Tis but a fantasy

[Dengler Avenue]

2 lanes from 104 E to 102 S, and 2 lanes from 102 N to 104 W.

I wonder if it's better to get everything built in one go though.

[LiamCarroll]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

2 lanes from 104 E to 102 S, and 2 lanes from 102 N to 104 W.

I wonder if it's better to get everything built in one go though.

Yeah, notice I made the green line wide enough to be 2 lanes, also makes the 104E-102S ramp more of a shallow angle while upgrading to two lanes (although it already is my favorite ramp in this interchange because of the nice angle). It would also make sense for the ramp I drew in to be above the 104, according to the current grading beside the eastbound ramp.

[LiamCarroll]

**THIS IS FANTASY**
Blue lines indicate future land needed for this project. This is an estimation, but judging on the number of jackasses that don't know how to merge, I feel northbound 102 traffic is in greater need of a collector, then again I'm 14 years old and probably stupid. I left room for a future collector southbound. People in NS come to a complete stop while "merging", and are a major traffic hazard to people travelling at 120+km/h, and I feel a slower limited collector diverting 102 traffic northbound wishing to use the 101 or Bedford highway would at least lower the amount of collisions, let alone the thru traffic being violently relieved from stupid mergers by being separated from them. I'm no civil engineer, so feel free to correct me or make a modified version of this. Just don't say it's yours because I worked hard on it. I also made the clove ramps less violent, especially the 101 west/ 102 north ramp. Thank you for your consideration.

[brucester4]

Good job, I have often thought of how this Cloverleaf could be improved. Maybe a flyover ramp from 102 north to 101 west might help, but would be expensive.

I think this is the worst designed interchange in Nova Scotia. It always amazed me how many ramps it takes to get from Trunk 1 East to Highway 102 North. I have often thought the whole area including the Bedford Bypass could be reconfigured. When the Highway 107 Burnside Connector is completed the area will be even more confusing.

[LiamCarroll]

Originally Posted by brucester4

Good job, I have often thought of how this Cloverleaf could be improved. Maybe a flyover ramp from 102 north to 101 west might help, but would be expensive.
When the Highway 107 Burnside Connector is completed the area will be even more confusing.

Oh my god yes, I wish I could just redesign the whole thing. I have no idea how they are going to fit an interchange with the 107 on the Bi-Hi... we'll have to wait to see. I live in the Millwood area and my dad has a rough commute on the bedford bypass

[Dengler Avenue]

For NB, now that the liberals are defeated, does it mean that the twinning of Highway 11 will stop?

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

For NB, now that the liberals are defeated, does it mean that the twinning of Highway 11 will stop?

Route 11 will continue to be twinned until Bouctouche or so (or whereever the Phase 1 twinning is supposed to end). The Liberals losing means Route 11 twinning further north of that is effectively dead.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Route 11 will continue to be twinned until Bouctouche or so (or whereever the Phase 1 twinning is supposed to end). The Liberals losing means Route 11 twinning further north of that is effectively dead.

Route 11 twinning is scheduled for just south of the Little Bouctouche River (saving the cost of construction of a couple of bridges and interchanges. This is several km south of Bouctouche.

[PEI highway guy]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

For NB, now that the liberals are defeated, does it mean that the twinning of Highway 11 will stop?

AFAIK the Liberals did not make any new promises on twinning further north. The conservatives had earlier said they would honour existing signed contracts, however, pushing/twinning highway 11 further north is not a justified expense. If somebody knows something different please correct me. side note: Dominic Leblanc is the MP Of the area and he would love to take this project north. A highway/paving is usually an effective vote getter in these parts of the country. With next years federal election on the horizon, it will be interesting to see if promises are made to push the twinning into the town of Boutouche and beyond

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by PEI highway guy

AFAIK the Liberals did not make any new promises on twinning further north. The conservatives had earlier said they would honour existing signed contracts, however, pushing/twinning highway 11 further north is not a justified expense. If somebody knows something different please correct me. side note: Dominic Leblanc is the MP Of the area and he would love to take this project north. A highway/paving is usually an effective vote getter in these parts of the country. With next years federal election on the horizon, it will be interesting to see if promises are made to push the twinning into the town of Boutouche and beyond

Honestly though, in NB, I’d rather see Highway 7 twinned and grade-separated in its entirety.

Also, a strange question: Is the first 30 km of NB HWY 2 patrolled by Edmundston Police?
First one, it’s funny that a small city its size has municipal police but that a big city like Moncton only has RCMP.
If anything, apparently there’s no rcmp until you get to Rivière-Verte (NB 2, exit 30).

[mylesmalley]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Honestly though, in NB, I’d rather see Highway 7 twinned and grade-separated in its entirety.

Also, a strange question: Is the first 30 km of NB HWY 2 patrolled by Edmundston Police?
First one, it’s funny that a small city its size has municipal police but that a big city like Moncton only has RCMP.
If anything, apparently there’s no rcmp until you get to Rivière-Verte (NB 2, exit 30).

Moncton had its own until about 20 years ago, then the three municipalities contracted the RCMP to provide policing. The Codiac Regional RCMP is dedicated to the Greater Moncton Area. According to an article I read yesterday, they have about 150 officers.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by mylesmalley

Moncton had its own until about 20 years ago, then the three municipalities contracted the RCMP to provide policing. The Codiac Regional RCMP is dedicated to the Greater Moncton Area. According to an article I read yesterday, they have about 150 officers.

Codiac is the second largest municipal policing contract that the RCMP has. I think the largest one is Richmond BC (if I recall correctly).

The move to RCMP policing in the greater Moncton area was forced by Frank McKenna when he was premier. I believe it had to do with ensuring bilingual requirements when we hosted the Francophonie Summit.

[theshark]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Honestly though, in NB, I’d rather see Highway 7 twinned and grade-separated in its entirety.

Also, a strange question: Is the first 30 km of NB HWY 2 patrolled by Edmundston Police?
First one, it’s funny that a small city its size has municipal police but that a big city like Moncton only has RCMP.
If anything, apparently there’s no rcmp until you get to Rivière-Verte (NB 2, exit 30).

Policing the HWY2 is the RCMP mandate, from Qc llimits to Ns limits, thing is that the 2 goes along the entire city of Edmundston, so if an officer needs to go from st-Jacques to st-Basile, its way quicker to take the 2 than to go through the city.

Its possible that you might see the city police pull over someone on the 2, they are sworn in for the whole province, so if they see something that is out of bounds they may interveen, same as when RCMP passes through the city, they can pull you over.