Atlantic Highways Thread

[Nashe]

I think the next thing you will see is North to Moncton traffic routed past the works on that new outer bypass that was paved.

[Monctoncore]

Speaking of highways, Im working in the tourism industry and it saddens me that I hear in a daily basis how bland of a drive the NB highway is from Quebec to Moncton... most people don't even realize fundy national park is there, or st. martins, they aren't informed of the Saint John river drive, northern new brunswicks beautiful coastlines. I always give people recommendations for their drives home. NB I think needs to start promoting more especially along the highway.

[Good2go]

Originally Posted by Monctoncore

Speaking of highways, Im working in the tourism industry and it saddens me that I hear in a daily basis how bland of a drive the NB highway is from Quebec to Moncton... most people don't even realize fundy national park is there, or st. martins, they aren't informed of the Saint John river drive, northern new brunswicks beautiful coastlines. I always give people recommendations for their drives home. NB I think needs to start promoting more especially along the highway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6zoXjHNCi0

[gehrhardt]

Originally Posted by Monctoncore

Speaking of highways, Im working in the tourism industry and it saddens me that I hear in a daily basis how bland of a drive the NB highway is from Quebec to Moncton... most people don't even realize fundy national park is there, or st. martins, they aren't informed of the Saint John river drive, northern new brunswicks beautiful coastlines. I always give people recommendations for their drives home. NB I think needs to start promoting more especially along the highway.

The 4-lane highways created over the past couple of decades in this province have certainly made travel faster and safer. Unfortunately it is exactly as you describe. Most of the tourists that are travelling on that highway only see trees for the majority of the route. I drove from Salisbury to Perth-Andover back in June and the highway was positively mind-numbing. We took the more scenic routes on the way back home.

There is signage for the different scenic routes people can take, but it's not as good as it could be. If I see a fish on a sign on the highway, I may not realize this is for a scenic route. It needs to be more explicit. Most people are not using paper maps with legends anymore.

People who want to see the sights NB has to offer already have information about them from websites, travel guides, etc, or will stop at a tourist bureau. It's the drive-thru tourists that we need to catch the attention of. This has always been an issue, but it seems to have worsened since the realignment of the TCH.

Maybe some signage like you see in Maine or NS, that present you with some alternate routes with distances, so you can make a decision as you are approaching an exit?

For example, approaching the Long's Creek exit from the west, there is already a sign showing the distance to Fredericton on the TCH. Why not replace it with another that gives you the distance on the current route, with an alternate "scenic route" distance below it?

The provincial parks are listed on road signs as a name with a blue background (They usually follow some distance from a full size sign for the park itself). "Parc Mactaquac Park" isn't pretty, but it's more informational than just "Mactaquac". It needs to stand out more.

Speaking of tourists, the road (Rte 114) from Penobsquis to the Fundy Park entrance is a disgrace. This is one of our major tourist draws and the road is as rough as an ATV trail. I towed my trailer to Fundy a couple of weeks ago and couldn't believe how bad it was. This isn't a new development either. Google Street view shows how bad it was in 2013. It's worse now.

[Taeolas]

The Tourist Bureaus need to be promoted more, and we need more tourist information at the major truck stops. I know most of them have some; but it needs to be more prominent in those locations. Not just an unmanned map board and brochures. (ESPECIALLY during the summer)

The scenic routes need better explanation, especially for what those signs (Fish, Fiddlehead, Mountain, Acadian star, etc...) actually mean. I think the CBC had an article a year or so ago, showing people (locals and out of provincers) those Scenic route signs and almost no-one knew what they meant. Maybe at the major turnoffs for those scenic routes, there should be a better (and dedicated) sign saying "Scenic Saint John River valley route. Follow {fiddlehead} signs." I think there are some occasionally, but more are probably needed.

And if it isn't already, Route 10 from Sussex to Coles Island should probably be declared another Scenic route. I've driven it a few times on my way to Moncton, to break up the forested monotony of the TCH, and the hills and communities along the way are very scenic. Route 1 I find is just a better drive as well. I would have the route go from Coles Island to Sussex to Moncton via Route 10, Route 1 and Route 106 (the back way into Moncton from Salisbury)

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Monctoncore

Speaking of highways, Im working in the tourism industry and it saddens me that I hear in a daily basis how bland of a drive the NB highway is from Quebec to Moncton... most people don't even realize fundy national park is there, or st. martins, they aren't informed of the Saint John river drive, northern new brunswicks beautiful coastlines. I always give people recommendations for their drives home. NB I think needs to start promoting more especially along the highway.

deAdder cartoon germaine to the discussion:



Michael deAdder is a good Moncton boy (Riverview actually). He's making quite a name for himself as a cartoonist!

[Monctoncore]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

deAdder cartoon germaine to the discussion:



Michael deAdder is a good Moncton boy (Riverview actually). He's making quite a name for himself as a cartoonist!

That is funny, he must have been reading our forum!

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Monctoncore

That is funny, he must have been reading our forum!

It's actually an old cartoon. I just happened to come across it while I was browsing on line.

[JHikka]

The drive through NB on the TCH is indeed mind-numbing but at least there's hills and turns and some elevation changes north of Fredericton - try driving the length of A20 in Quebec or the 401 in Ontario from Cornwall to Windsor. Majority of the time they're long, straight, flat, and utterly boring. The only difference those highways have is they pass through major centres and usually have farms or fields throughout, and they usually have enough traffic to make the drive exciting so long as you're not dropping below 80kph. The upside to driving through NB is that there's so little RCMP presence most of the time you can do 140kph for most of it.

I agree there probably should be increased signage for some of the scenic routes but you're only going to grab so many tourists with that. Many are just trying to get to PEI/Nova Scotia/wherever they're going that isn't NB.

[wave46]

Originally Posted by Monctoncore

That is funny, he must have been reading our forum!

Reminds me of a Charles Kuralt quip:

"Interstate highways allow you to drive coast to coast, without seeing anything"

[gehrhardt]

The charging station at the Salisbury Big Stop was opened today:

https://www.facebook.com/SalisburyBi...ndiGDOciCIXd6Q

(Sorry for the Facebook link)

[p_xavier]

Originally Posted by JHikka

The drive through NB on the TCH is indeed mind-numbing but at least there's hills and turns and some elevation changes north of Fredericton - try driving the length of A20 in Quebec or the 401 in Ontario from Cornwall to Windsor. Majority of the time they're long, straight, flat, and utterly boring. The only difference those highways have is they pass through major centres and usually have farms or fields throughout, and they usually have enough traffic to make the drive exciting so long as you're not dropping below 80kph. The upside to driving through NB is that there's so little RCMP presence most of the time you can do 140kph for most of it.

I agree there probably should be increased signage for some of the scenic routes but you're only going to grab so many tourists with that. Many are just trying to get to PEI/Nova Scotia/wherever they're going that isn't NB.

I'm always impressed going through NB when passing Edmundston, the highway as a great scenic view of the city and it makes it seems much bigger than it is really.

[PEI highway guy]

The area on the TCH around Edmundston NB seems bigger because you can see Madawaska Maine at a certain point and this adds extra people/ buildings into the mix making the city appear larger than it is.

[q12]

Cool shot of Nova Scotia Highway 111, (Dartmouth Circumferential Highway "The Circ")


Source
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWhtLwMF...medium=twitter

[stephan.richard]

FYI Route 11

Closure of Route 11 Section
August 3, 2017
The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure advises the public that approximately two kilometres of Route 11, from the Exit 1 ramp for Main Street, Shediac (about 500 metres north of the Route 15 iInterchange) to the Route 134 Interchange, will be closed to all traffic from Aug. 18 to Nov. 25.

The closure is due to ongoing construction of the twinning of Route 11. The travelling public should expect significant delays in the area, especially during peak hours.

Northbound traffic from Route 15 and Route 132 will use the exit ramp for Main Street to Shediac, turn left at the first intersection on Route 133, then left onto Route 134, returning to Route 11 via the existing ramp at the Route 134 interchange. Temporary traffic signals will be installed at the intersection of Route 133 and Route 134.

Southbound traffic on Route 11 heading toward Moncton will take Exit 2 for Route 134 and continue straight on a newly constructed detour, then take a service road to Route 15. Southbound traffic heading toward Shediac or continuing eastbound on Route 15 towards PEI will turn left on Route 134 and follow the same detour as the northbound traffic to the exit ramp to Main Street, which will serve as a two-way detour.

Expect some lane reductions and traffic pattern changes in the days leading up to the route closure. Signage will be in place to indicate the detour route.

Those travelling north of Shediac to/from Moncton are strongly advised to use alternate routes such as Route 134 (Shediac Road), Route 115 (Elmwood Drive) or Route 126.

We regret any inconvenience and thank the public for their cooperation.

[theshark]

Anyone knows if New Brunswicks DTI publishes AADT anywhere?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by theshark

Anyone knows if New Brunswicks DTI publishes AADT anywhere?

They're not as easy to find as the stats for NS, but JHikka seems to have access to them. You could send him a PM.

[Ire Narissis]

Route 7 is being diverted off that temporary crossover before the first Grand Bay exit once again... they're really getting their money's worth out of that thing. The province's construction advisory page gives a timeframe of Aug. 14th - Oct. 6th but doesn't describe the nature of the work beyond "construction". Another culvert replacement, maybe?

IMHO, that section really ought to be expanded to not narrow down to one lane, and instead to maintain two lanes where traffic in the left-hand lane continues on Route 7, and traffic in the right-hand lane goes into Grand Bay. The narrowing causes traffic compaction in rush hour as a lot of drivers planning to head into Grand Bay don't understand how to merge off a highway and slow way down before getting to the turn-off lane.

[Mattyyy]

Telsa has updated their Supercharger map on its website to show charging stations will be built in the following cities by the end of 2018. The list includes:
- Edmundston
- Woodstock
- Baring, ME
- Fredericton
- Saint John
- Moncton
- Truro
- Halifax

This is great news.

[Taeolas]

Interesting; they're really bumping up the highway network I'd say. That would be the main reason to add one to Woodstock, and even most of those sites.

Not sure where it is going in Woodstock though; the icon on their map is in the middle of a cemetery (and a rather large cemetery at that), so I doubt it is actually going there.