Last week, many found themselves caught in a scene all too familiar to anyone who regularly uses the Canso Causeway. They were stuck in traffic for nearly two hours – yes, two hours – trying to cross a vital piece of infrastructure that should unite, not divide, Cape Breton and mainland Nova Scotia.
As they sat there, engine idling and tempers rising, they couldn’t help but reflect on how many times this has happened over the years. Whether it’s for the swing bridge, weather conditions, construction delays, or some unfortunate combination of all three, the causeway continues to be a bottleneck for residents, tourists, workers, emergency services, and commercial traffic alike.
It’s 2025, and we’re still treating this critical connection as though it’s an afterthought in our transportation planning. The Canso Causeway is not just a road – it’s a lifeline. And when that lifeline clogs up, the ripple effects are felt across the Strait region and beyond.
During any unplanned standstill, you can watch people with young children grow restless, transport trucks pull over to wait, and drivers even get out of their vehicle to stretch and share a few choice words about the ongoing nightmare of trying to predict when – if at all – you’ll make it across on time.
Can you imagine this happening during a medical emergency? Or to a family trying to get to a funeral? Or a shift worker already running late because of a delay caused by factors totally out of their control?
We talk so much about improving rural life, boosting tourism, and making Nova Scotia a more connected province. But how do we justify ignoring one of the province’s most vital pieces of infrastructure? For years, there have been quiet conversations and political promises about better planning, improved traffic flow, and perhaps even long-term alternatives.
But too often, those discussions stop short of real investment or urgency.
The causeway has served us well since it opened in 1955, but times have changed. Our population, tourism numbers, and traffic demands have grown, while infrastructure upgrades and traffic management solutions have not kept pace.
I’m not writing this to point fingers at one political party or department. I’m writing because I’m tired – tired of waiting, tired of excuses, and tired of seeing Cape Bretoners and mainlanders pay the price for chronic underinvestment.
It’s time we ask serious questions:
Why isn’t there better real-time communication about delays at the causeway?
Why can’t we explore the possibility of alternating traffic lanes or implementing intelligent traffic systems during peak seasons?
Why hasn’t a proper transportation impact study been commissioned in recent years to understand the economic cost of these delays?
And perhaps most importantly – why do we continue to accept this as normal?
A nearly two-hour delay isn’t just an inconvenience – it’s a symptom of a larger problem: a lack of political will and planning foresight. And until residents start speaking out, loudly and persistently, we’ll be here again next week, next summer, next year – sitting in line, watching the minutes and hours of our lives disappear behind brake lights and bad planning.
I urge our local MLAs, the Department of Public Works, and federal representatives to stop treating this as just another line item.
Get serious.
Involve the communities on both sides. Push for funding. Consider the future. And finally, let’s make the Canso Causeway something we’re proud of – not something we dread.