Highway twinning study in N.S. awarded to CBCL Limited

The province will spendalmost $900,000on a province-wide examination of twinning and tolling ateight specific sections of four major highways.

CBCL Limited, an Atlantic Canadianengineering and environmental design company, won the tender from the province and will be paid $897,128.

The plan is to look at the following sections of 100-series highways to determine whether they should be twinned and tolled:

• Highway 101 -Three Mile Plains to Falmouth -9.5 km
• Highway 101 -Hortonville to Coldbrook -24.7 km
• Highway 103 -Exit 5 at Tantallon to Exit 12 Bridgewater -71 km
• Highway 104 -Sutherlands River to Antigonish -37.8 km
• Highway 104 -Taylors Road to Aulds Cove -38.4 km
• Highway 104 -Port Hastings to Port Hawkesbury -6.75 km
• Highway 104 -St. Peter's to Sydney -80 km
• Highway 107 -Porters Lake to Duke Street, Bedford -33 km

If the province went ahead with all eight projects, it would mean twinning a total of 301.2 kilometres of highways.

The study is to be completed by the end of April.

Public consultation

Nova Scotians will get a say in the matter as thetender calls for public consultation on each stretch of road.

Geoff MacLellan, Nova Scotia's Transportation minister, told CBC News in June thatpublic support is key.

"If we're going put together toll projects and mega-projects of this magnitude, we've got to know that the people support it," he said.

There will be two public meetings per corridor, resulting in 16 public meetings.

MacLellan said these meetings will provide a good idea of the level of support for the idea.

"That will give us a pretty good sense on the ground of what people think,"MacLellan said in June.

Nova Scotians will also be able to have their say by providing feedback online.

One toll road in province

Currently, the Cobequid Pass on Highway 104 is the only toll road in the province. The 45-kilometrestretch of road took 20 months to build at a cost of $96million. Most motorists now pay a $4 toll to use it. Trucks can pay up to $24, depending on the size of the vehicle.