There are complaints about the lack of information on the redesign of the rotary in Port Hastings.
During the regular monthly meeting on July 7 in Port Hood, Inverness municipal councillors said they want to meet with provincial officials to get an update on the project.
Deputy Warden Catherine Gillis represents the Port Hastings area and said she has been hearing from residents and groups about the “lack of consultation.” She is also concerned about the fact that the last update provided to the municipality was in February, 2021.
Because residents in and around the rotary, as well as local volunteer fire departments, will be impacted, Gillis recommended the municipality contact Nova Scotia Public Works, as well as Inverness MLA Allan MacMaster, something CAO Keith MacDonald said municipal staff has already undertaken, but they were awaiting a response.
Late last year Jamie Chisholm, Director of the Eastern District for the Department of Public Works told The Reporter the new roundabout will be centered west of the existing rotary.
Chisholm said the department decided to split the project into two parts because of the amount of work required.
In the first part, Chisholm said crews did “heavy ground work” which was mainly “off shoulder” work that had little impact on traffic.
In the upcoming second phase, Chisholm said crews are going to widen the west bound lane between the new roundabout and the swing bridge. He said there will be two lanes west bound from the new roundabout to the Canso Canal, which will double the amount of available space when the swing bridge opens for marine traffic.
The reason they’re planning this is to allow for a little extra storage when the bridge gets open, Chisholm said, noting that traffic gets jammed up when the bridge opens, and traffic backs up from the bridge to the existing rotary.
Chisholm said the second phase will “certainly cause disruption” to traffic.
Chisholm said the signage and beautification work – which has been discussed by local municipal councils – around the rotary will also be included in the second phase.
In addition to providing a more aesthetically pleasing welcome to Cape Breton, Chisholm said vegetation is there to focus the view of drivers to avoid distractions.
While there were complaints about replacing the rotary, Chisholm insisted it’s a safer option that will be less confusing. Noting there are roundabouts in Antigonish County, Whycocomagh and the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, he said they are nothing new to Strait area motorists.
The current lay-out is outdated, Chisholm said, adding the roundabout is a step in the right direction to resolve current safety issues.
Despite the importance and scale of the project, there was very little information about plans by the province to delay work on the new roundabouts to the fall.
Last month Deborah Bayer, Communications Advisor with the Department of Public Works, confirmed that the second and final phase of the Port Hastings roundabout will be tendered later this summer with a fall 2023 completion date.
Bayer said some construction will start this fall, and there will approximately two months of work with “only minimal traffic disruptions.”
The decision to delay the project was made in the fall of 2021 after Bayer said the department received feedback from public consultations. In addition to online, she said consultations included local municipalities like Inverness County and Port Hawkesbury, as well as local MLAs, Tourism Nova Scotia, the Port Hastings Volunteer Fire Department, Strait Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Cape Breton Gateway group.
Bayer said the delay will allow the province to “mitigate risks with the relocation of the utilities and property acquisitions.”
Starting in May 2023, Bayer said the province plans to start construction of the roundabout with approaches, gravel placement, drainage, signage, lighting, paving, and landscaping, with this work expected to be completed by the fall of 2023.
It is good news that the work will take place, and be finished by next year, but the fact that municipal officials have to request meetings for timely updates, is certainly disappointing.
It was also disappointing that it took many months to publicly confirm the construction delay from the summer. The province made the decision last fall, but word about the timeline change didn’t start making the rounds until last winter.
The province’s assurances that local municipalities and organizations are important stakeholders in the project are undermined by this lack of information.
It’s time for the province to sit down with these groups and governments, fully brief them on the status of the project, and then set dates to provide updates.
The public has a right to know what’s going on and when at the only transportation link between Cape Breton and mainland Nova Scotia.