ANTIGONISH: After a number of collisions and requests from municipal council, changes were made to a local intersection and more are coming.
On January 3, the Nova Scotia Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal announced the closure of a section of Trunk 4 from South River Road to Beech Hill Road in Antigonish County, until further notice.
The department stated the closure will be in effect until permanent upgrades are made to the Beech Hill/Trunk 4 intersection. Transportation minister Lloyd Hines said the short term objective to improve safety at the intersection is to turn it into a three-way stop.
During the closure, said Hines, the department will modify the closed section of the Trunk 4 to make it more of a local road than a section of highway. The eventual goal is to install a roundabout at the intersection and then reopen the closed section of trunk 4.
“We know that’s going to improve the safety and that’s our immediate goal,” said Hines. “In the meantime, we’re looking at working with the municipality. Everything we do there, we talk to them about.”
Hines said they’ve been looking at the intersection for over a year, adding a safety study was completed on the intersection. Depending on how long it takes for the design work, which Hines said is underway, the department is aiming to begin work on the roundabout either in the late summer or early fall.
Antigonish Warden Owen McCarron said council is hoping it will curb the amount of disturbances at the intersection, which saw 19 collisions since early 2017, including a fatality on December 2.
“This will take some of the immediate pressure off the intersection,” said McCarron. “Hopefully this will alleviate any accidents as we go forward for the next few months.”
When asked about how long it took to get a fix at the intersection, as council has been bringing up such concerns since late 2017, McCarron said he understands people had concerns and some felt there should have been more urgency.
“However, we are here now and we do have a temporary solution in effect, and the long range solution will hopefully remedy that interchange going forward,” said McCarron. “We’re thankful [DTIR] moved quickly since our emergency meeting to get this to a state that it is today.”
McCarron said council will closely monitor the status of the closed section of Trunk 4 as there are businesses impacted by the change.
Hines said the department is also looking to be in a position to begin work on the twinning of Highway 104 between Antigonish and Sutherland’s River in April or May.