Miners Memorial Highway Trans-Canada Highway | ||||
Highway 104 highlighted in red | ||||
Route information | ||||
Maintained by Nova Scotia Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal | ||||
Length | 319.4 km [1] (198.5 mi) | |||
Existed | 1964–present | |||
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Length | 274.1 km [1] (170.3 mi) | |||
West end | New Brunswick border continues as ![]() | |||
Major intersections |
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East end | ![]() ![]() ![]() | |||
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Length | 37.3 km [1] (23.2 mi) | |||
West end | ![]() | |||
East end | ![]() | |||
Location | ||||
Country | Canada | |||
Province | Nova Scotia | |||
Highway system | ||||
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Highway 104 in Nova Scotia, Canada, runs from Fort Lawrence at the New Brunswick border near Amherst to River Tillard near St. Peter's. Except for the portion on Cape Breton Island between Port Hawkesbury and St. Peter's, it forms the main route of the Trans-Canada Highway across the province. [2]
Highway 104 mostly supplants the former route of Trunk 4. In 1970, all sections of Trunk 4 west of New Glasgow were renumbered, although the number was added back in the Mount Thom and Wentworth Valley areas in the 1990s when new alignments of Highway 104 opened to traffic.
The provincial government named the highway the Miners Memorial Highway on 8 September 2008 one month before the 50th anniversary of the Springhill mining disaster of 23 October 1958. [3]
The highway's present alignment measures 319 kilometres (198 mi) long, of which the western 180 km (110 mi) between the inter-provincial border with New Brunswick at Fort Lawrence through to Sutherlands River is a 4-lane divided freeway. The eastern 142 kilometres (88 mi) from Sutherlands River to River Tillard is a mixture of 2-lane controlled access freeway known as a Super 2, uncontrolled access 2-lane highway, and 4-lane divided freeway sections.
Highway 104 is divided into two distinct sections; the Trans-Canada Highway section which runs from the New Brunswick border to Port Hastings, and a smaller section on Cape Breton Island between Port Hawkesbury and St. Peter's. [2]
From the inter-provincial border at Fort Lawrence, Highway 104 is a 4-lane divided freeway with posted speed limit of 110 kilometres per hour (70 mph) and runs east for 48 kilometres (30 mi) past the towns of Amherst and Oxford to Thomson Station. This section had been built in the 1960s as a Super 2 and was upgraded to a 4-lane divided freeway that opened in 1993. From Thomson Station the highway runs southeast for 45 kilometres (28 mi) to Masstown, this segment is a tolled section known as the Cobequid Pass, which opened on 15 November 1997. From Masstown, the highway runs east and northeast for 14 kilometres (9 mi) to the rural community of Onslow, near Truro, and intersects Highway 102, the main 4-lane divided freeway connecting the Trans-Canada Highway with Halifax and southern Nova Scotia.
Highway 104 continues for 55 kilometres (34 mi), past Westville, to Highway 106, a branch of the Trans-Canada Highway that connects to Prince Edward Island via ferry. The highway continues east for 4 kilometres (2 mi) to Stellarton and New Glasgow, with the highway passing through Sellarton; however, New Glasgow is located just to the north of the highway. The highway continues to Sutherlands River, were it reaches the eastern extent of the end of the 4-lane divided freeway. [2]
East of Sutherlands River, Highway 104 becomes a Super 2 with a posted speed limit of 100 kilometres per hour (60 mph). The highway runs east for 17 kilometres (11 mi) to Barney's River Station, and was built between 1964 and 1965 as a Super 2 and remains as a controlled access highway with dedicated passing lanes. [4] East of Barney's River Station, the highway runs southeast for 12 kilometres (7 mi) to James River as an uncontrolled access highway which was formerly part of Trunk 4. [4] Past James River, the highway runs east for 12 kilometres (7 mi) to Addington Forks as a Super 2, controlled access highway, [4] where the highway runs east for 11 kilometres (7 mi) to South River Road along a new alignment of 4-lane divided freeway that opened on September 19, 2012. Prior to this new alignment opening, Highway 104 ran east on the present alignment of Trunk 4 and Post Road in the town of Antigonish and included three intersections controlled by traffic lights. The highway continues from South River Road as a 4-lane divided freeway, which opened October 22, 2016, for 7 kilometres (4 mi) to Dagger Woods. [5] Prior to this new alignment opening, this section was an uncontrolled access highway (formerly Trunk 4). [2]
From the end of the freeway section at Dagger Woods, the highway runs east for 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) to Pomquet Forks as a Super 2 and remains as a controlled access highway, although there are several at-grade intersections. East of Pomquet Forks, the highway runs east for 3 kilometres (2 mi) to Heatherton as an uncontrolled access highway (formerly Trunk 4) and speed limit reduces 90 kilometres per hour (55 mph). Past Heatherton, the highway runs east for 29 kilometres (18 mi) to Auld's Cove and speed limit increased back to 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph). At Auld's Cove, the highway becomes an uncontrolled access highway with a posted speed limit of 70 kilometres per hour (45 mph) and begins a concurrency with Trunk 4. It crosses the Strait of Canso along the 1.4-kilometre-long (0.9 mi) Canso Causeway to Port Hastings on Cape Breton Island. At Port Hastings, the highway intersects Trunk 4, Trunk 19 and Highway 105 at a roundabout where Highway 105 proceeds east carrying the Trans-Canada Highway designation. [2]
From the roundabout at Port Hastings, there is an 8-kilometre (5 mi) gap in Highway 104 which is connected by Trunk 4, passing the town of Port Hawkesbury. The highway reappears at the Exit 43 interchange for Trunk 4 in Melville, just outside of Port Hawkesbury. [2] A Highway 104 bypass from Port Hastings to Melville has been proposed in the past. Concept designs have shown a new alignment of 4-lane freeway being built around the northwest side of Port Hastings, crossing Highway 105 at a new interchange near an electrical substation. The new alignment of Highway 104 would proceed east and then southeast approximately following a power line corridor to the Exit 43 interchange in Melville.
From Port Hawkesbury, the highway runs east as a controlled access Super 2 for 34 kilometres (21 mi) to its current eastern terminus at an at-grade intersection with Trunk 4 in River Tillard, near St. Peters. An extension of Highway 104 from River Tillard to Sydney River has been proposed in the past. The Nova Scotia provincial government has designated the entire length of Highway 104 from Fort Lawrence to River Tillard as a "strategic highway" to qualify for federal cost-sharing of maintenance and future upgrades. This designation has also been applied to the remaining Trunk 4 corridor in Cape Breton along the south shore of Bras d'Or Lake from St. Peters to Sydney River. It is eventually envisioned that the Trans-Canada Highway will follow the entire length of Highway 104 from Amherst to Sydney River as a 4-lane freeway, upgraded from the existing two-lane freeway and uncontrolled access sections of the highway. [2]
Highway 104 was upgraded in various stages as follows:
The Province of Nova Scotia awarded the P3 contract that will twin a 38-kilometre (24 mi) section of Highway 104 between Sutherlands River and Antigonish to Dexter Nova Alliance. [6] As part the project, there will be 28 kilometres (17 mi) of existing highway upgraded and a 10-kilometre (6 mi) new, realigned section; the bypassed section of Highway 104 between Barney's River Station and Marshy Hope would revert to being part of Trunk 4. [7] [8] Construction began in the spring of 2020, with a completion date of no later than the end of 2023. [6]
The province of Nova Scotia has proposed construction of a new 84-kilometre (52 mi) 2 lane arterial from the current end of Highway 104 at St. Peter's to Highway 125 at Sydney. [9] This highway would travel mostly east of the current Trunk 4 and open as a Super 2. It would serve as a bypass of Trunk 4 and likely take designation of the Trans Canada Highway rather than Highway 105. When completed, this would provide nearly continuous controlled access highway across Nova Scotia on the Trans Canada Highway. Construction costs are estimated to be approximately $500 million and tolls have been proposed in the past. This project is currently not on the province's 5-year highway plan. [10]
County | Location | km | mi | Exit | Destinations | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New Brunswick border | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | ![]() | Signed as ![]() | ||
Missaguash River Bridge crosses the Missaguash River | |||||||
Cumberland | Fort Lawrence | 0.7 | 0.43 | 1 | ![]() ![]() | Eastbound signed as Exit 1A | |
Amherst | 5.2 | 3.2 | 3 | ![]() | |||
8.7 | 5.4 | 4 | ![]() | ||||
| 29.4 | 18.3 | 5 | ![]() | |||
Oxford | 39.7 | 24.7 | 6 | ![]() ![]() | |||
| 48.5 | 30.1 | 7 | ![]() | West end of Cobequid Pass tolled section | ||
59.2 | 36.8 | 8 | ![]() | ||||
Colchester | | 72.6 | 45.1 | Cobequid Pass Toll Plaza | |||
83.3 | 51.8 | 10 | ![]() ![]() | East end of Cobequid Pass tolled section | |||
89.0 | 55.3 | 11 | ![]() ![]() | ||||
Masstown | 92.4 | 57.4 | 12 | ![]() ![]() | |||
| 97.6 | 60.6 | 13 | Debert, Lower Onslow | |||
Onslow | 106.3 | 66.1 | 15 | ![]() | Exit 15 on Hwy 102 | ||
Valley | 115.6 | 71.8 | 17 | ![]() | Eastbound exit, westbound entrance | ||
116.2 | 72.2 | 17 | ![]() | Westbound exit, eastbound entrance | |||
| 125.5 | 78.0 | 18 | Stevens Cross Road – Kemptown, Riversdale | |||
Pictou | | 132.7 | 82.5 | 18A | ![]() | ||
Salt Springs | 146.3 | 90.9 | 19 | ![]() ![]() | |||
| 154.9 | 96.3 | 20 | ![]() | |||
Westville | 159.2 | 98.9 | 21 | ![]() ![]() | |||
| 160.8 | 99.9 | 22 | ![]() ![]() | Exit 1 on Hwy 106 | ||
New Glasgow, Stellarton | 163.8 | 101.8 | 23 | ![]() | |||
165.0 | 102.5 | 24 | ![]() | ||||
165.7 | 103.0 | Crosses the East River of Pictou | |||||
166.2 | 103.3 | 25 | ![]() | ||||
| 169.8 | 105.5 | 26 | ![]() ![]() | |||
Sutherlands River | 177.2 | 110.1 | 27 | ![]() ![]() | |||
| 178.8 | 111.1 | End of divided freeway (Twinning work underway to complete freeway between Sutherlands River and Addington Forks) | ||||
Barney's River Station | 197.5 | 122.7 | 29 | ![]() | At-grade | ||
Marshy Hope | 203.3 | 126.3 | 29A | ![]() | At-grade | ||
Antigonish | James River | 209.5 | 130.2 | 30 | ![]() | ||
| 217.9 | 135.4 | Beginning of divided freeway | ||||
Addington Forks | 218.7 | 135.9 | 31 | ![]() | |||
Antigonish | 221.0 | 137.3 | 32 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | |||
223.4 | 138.8 | 33 | ![]() | ||||
Lower South River | 228.9 | 142.2 | 35 | ![]() ![]() | |||
| 232.0 | 144.2 | End of divided freeway | ||||
| 236.1 | 146.7 | 35B | Pomquet Monks Head Road, Pomquet River Road – Pomquet, St. Andrews | At-grade | ||
Heatherton | 238.1 | 147.9 | 36 | Summerside Road | At-grade | ||
239.3 | 148.7 | 36A | ![]() | ||||
242.5 | 150.7 | 36B | Afton Road north to ![]() | Bayside Travel Centre located at interchange | |||
Monastery | 251.1 | 156.0 | 37 | ![]() ![]() | |||
| 261.2 | 162.3 | 38 | ![]() | Eastbound exit, westbound entrance | ||
262.5 | 163.1 | 38 | ![]() | Westbound exit, eastbound entrance | |||
Aulds Cove | 269.4 | 167.4 | 39 | ![]() | West end of Trunk 4 overlap; at-grade | ||
270.7 | 168.2 | 40 | ![]() | At-grade | |||
Strait of Canso | 272.0– 273.4 | 169.0– 169.9 | Canso Causeway | ||||
Inverness | Port Hastings | 274.1 | 170.3 | 41 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | Roundabout; exit 1 on Hwy 105; Trans-Canada Highway follows Hwy 105 east | |
7.9 km (4.9 mi) gap in Hwy 104 | |||||||
Inverness | Port Hawkesbury | 282.1 | 175.3 | 43 | ![]() | Signed as ![]() | |
Richmond | Lower River Inhabitants | 291.8 | 181.3 | 44 | Cleveland, Lower River Inhabitants, Port Malcolm | At-grade | |
Evanston | 293.6 | 182.4 | 45 | Evanston, Whiteside | At-grade | ||
Louisdale | 304.7 | 189.3 | 46 | ![]() ![]() | |||
Cannes | 315.2 | 195.9 | 47 | Sporting Mountain Road – River Bourgeois, Cannes | |||
River Tillard | 319.4 | 198.5 | 48 | ![]() | Eastern terminus; through traffic follows Trunk 4 east | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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The Trans-Canada Highway is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast. The main route spans 7,476 km (4,645 mi) across the country, one of the longest routes of its type in the world. The highway system is recognizable by its distinctive white-on-green maple leaf route markers, although there are small variations in the markers in some provinces.
King's Highway 17, more commonly known as Highway 17, is a provincially maintained highway and the primary route of the Trans-Canada Highway through the Canadian province of Ontario. It begins at the Manitoba boundary, 50 km (31 mi) west of Kenora, and the main section ends where Highway 417 begins just west of Arnprior. A small disconnected signed section of the highway still remains within the Ottawa Region between County Road 29 and Grants Side Road. This makes it Ontario's longest highway.
Route 2 is a major provincial highway in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, carrying the main route of the Trans-Canada Highway in the province. The highway connects with Autoroute 85 at the border with Quebec and Highway 104 at the border with Nova Scotia, as well as with traffic from Interstate 95 in the U.S. state of Maine via the short Route 95 connector. A core route in the National Highway System, Route 2 is a four-lane freeway in its entirety, and directly serves the cities of Edmundston, Fredericton, and Moncton.
Route 16 is a 2-lane highway in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The 52 km (32 mi) route begins at a T intersection with Aulac Road at Aulac and ends at the western abutment of the Confederation Bridge at Cape Jourimain.
Highway 103 is an east-west highway in Nova Scotia that runs from Halifax to Yarmouth.
Highway 101 is an east-west highway in Nova Scotia that runs from Bedford to Yarmouth.
Highway 102 is a north-south highway in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia that runs from Halifax to Onslow, immediately north of the town of Truro. It is the busiest highway in Atlantic Canada.
Highway 105 in Nova Scotia represents the Cape Breton Island leg of the Trans-Canada Highway. It runs from the Port Hastings Rotary just east of the Canso Causeway in Port Hastings to the Marine Atlantic ferry terminal in North Sydney, representing a distance of 142 kilometres (88 mi).
The Pacific Motorway is a 127-kilometre motorway linking Sydney to Newcastle via the Central Coast and Hunter regions of New South Wales. Formerly known but still commonly referred to by both the public and the government as the F3 Freeway, Sydney–Newcastle Freeway, and Sydney–Newcastle Expressway, it is part of the AusLink road corridor between Sydney and Brisbane. The name "F3 Freeway" reflects its former route allocation before it was decommissioned and replaced by the rollout of alphanumeric signposts.
Highway 125 is a 28 km long controlled-access highway located in Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Regional Municipality. The provincial government named it Peacekeepers Way on August 18, 2008. Part of the provincial 100-series arterial highway network, Highway 125 encircles the west side of Sydney Harbour, from an interchange with Highway 105 at Sydney Mines to Trunk 4 immediately east of Sydney.
Trunk 1 is part of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia's system of Trunk Highways.
Trunk 4 is part of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia's system of Trunk Highways. The route runs from Highway 104 exit 7 near Thomson Station to Glace Bay. Until the construction of the Trans-Canada Highway, Trunk 4 was a major traffic link in northern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, and is still used on Cape Breton as an alternative to Highway 105. The highway was originally called the King's Highway, however, this name is no longer applied to the entire road. The only remaining historic section of the highway that maintains the name "King" is King's Road in Sydney.
Trunk 6 is part of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia's system of trunk highways. The route runs from Highway 104 exit 3 at Amherst to the rotary at Pictou, a distance of 136 kilometres (85 mi). It is part of the Sunrise Trail, a designated tourist route.
Trunk 19 is part of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia's system of trunk highways. The road runs from Port Hastings to a junction with the Cabot Trail at Margaree Forks on Cape Breton Island, a distance of 107 kilometres (66 mi). Most of the route is known as the Ceilidh Trail.
The 100-Series Highways are a series of arterial highways in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
Route 204 is a collector road in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
A two-lane expressway or two-lane freeway is an expressway or freeway with only one lane in each direction, and usually no median barrier. It may be built that way because of constraints, or may be intended for expansion once traffic volumes rise. The term super two is often used by roadgeeks for this type of road, but traffic engineers use that term for a high-quality surface road. Most of these roads are not tolled.
The Cobequid Pass is the name given to a 45 km (28 mi) tolled section of Nova Scotia Highway 104 between Thomson Station, Cumberland County and Masstown, Colchester County in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. The section is a public–private partnership; the highway is owned by the Highway 104 Western Alignment Corporation, a Crown corporation of the Government of Nova Scotia, with a toll plaza operated under contract by Atlantic Highway Management Corporation Limited, a subsidiary of Aecon Concessions. The toll plaza is located near the halfway point in Londonderry. It opened in 1997.
This article describes the highway systems available in selected countries.
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