PORT HASTINGS: A total redesign of the rotary redesign project now includes an overpass, multiple traffic lights, and a bypass lane coming from Port Hawkesbury.
In a community information session on Dec. 5 at the Port Hastings Fire Hall, representatives with the province’s Department of Public Works advised the motivation behind the re-design was to make it foolproof.
The province indicated the project, which now has a price tag around $15 million, has a number of key goals including: improving public safety with roundabout conversion, intersection upgrades and improving access; maintaining local connectivity from Trunk 4 to Trunk 19; and improving the traffic flow when the swing bridge is open.
Planning and preliminary design work is currently underway, while construction is expected to resume in the spring of 2023 with the completion of the project anticipated by the fall of 2024, the province noted.
Inverness MLA Allan MacMaster, who is also the province’s deputy premier, told the standing room only meeting that everyone deserves a chance to see the proposal and have their say on it.
“Many of you are living locally in the area, or you’re travelling through this structure every day, so, you’ve seen it all,” MacMaster said as they began to detail the plan. “There’s one thing that’s not in here, and that’s the reality of the swing bridge; if we looked at replacing that it would probably cost hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Addressing the traffic issues at the sometimes confusing section of road for out-of-town motorists, the local MLA highlighted the new roundabout, which aims to take care of most of these issues, will be a very important piece of infrastructure.
“The fact is there is a community here in Port Hastings, the other fact is there is a need for a major piece of highway infrastructure right beside the community,” MacMaster said. “People are coming to a world-class island here; we should have a world-class look.”
After establishing the new design, MacMaster said the task now is to see if needs improvement.
“At the end of the day, I want to make sure, what goes out here is good, and it’s the best it can be,” MacMaster said. “Whether it takes a little longer, whether it costs a little more, we’re going to have to live with it for a long time.”
Dwayne Cross, the department’s manager of highway planning and design, explained the proposed project includes a roundabout that will be constructed near the location of the existing rotary and a new storage lane will be built for vehicles approaching the Canso Causeway from Cape Breton.
Cross said the use of traffic lights on Highway 105 and Trunk 4 is required during busy periods of swing bridge operation, ensuring the roundabout remains open to emergency vehicles and local traffic.
“The project will help manage vehicle queues that form when the swing bridge is opened. Once the point in the storage areas get built up, the red lights will hold traffic,” Cross said. “The new roundabout is designed to improve safety by reducing vehicle speeds. It will also standardize operations to be consistent with other roundabouts in the province.”
Entering the new roundabout will be similar to the existing rotary, however vehicles entering the roundabout must yield to vehicles already in the circle, said Cross.
“When you’re coming into it, you’re yielding to that circulating traffic; whoever is in the circle has the right away. If you make a dumb move and pull out, most likely it’s going to be a sideswipe,” Cross said. “It’s going to ruin your day but you’re most likely going to walk away from that accident but if it was a T-bone or head-on, unfortunately it could be quite a different story.”
Access points to Port Hastings are being adjusted and updated to improve sight distance and safety when entering and exiting the community. A bypass lane will allow vehicles coming from Port Hawkesbury on Trunk 4 to proceed to Trunk 19 without having to enter the roundabout.
Cross advised this lane is separated by a concrete median to minimize disruptions and allow the continuous flow of traffic during swing bridge operations.
“We spent a tremendous amount of time and effort into figuring out what’s going on and what the situation is now,” he said. “We worked with the swing bridge operators to get that data, how many operations are there in a day, what’s the average time of the swing bridge operation, what’s the worst case.”
While some times the wait can be as little as 10 minutes, Cross explained the average wait time is anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes, while there have been times motorists have been waiting upwards of an hour to get through because of delays with the bridge.
Following their presentation, the department officials answered questions and listened to concerns from those in attendance. While many had concerns with travelling through the roundabout and appropriate signage, others had concerns over impacts on traffic during construction, restrictions to the causeway due to weather, and the surrounding, out-dated infrastructure.
“I know there are a couple of properties around the structure that are unused,” MacMaster said. “And I know that is a bit of an issue as well.”
There isn’t much the province can do in relation to the two motel properties as they are private businesses, Cross suggested.
During the open question period, two residents aired their concerns with department representatives, raising their voices, using profanity, and walking out.
“Sorry for my language people, this is my community and I see what goes on here, you guys are in the city,” one resident exclaimed. “Come here in the summertime and see the situation, you’re stuck in the traffic and you can’t get home; you guys do what you want.”