Nova Scotia Route 4

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Sunrise Trail

Nova Scotia Route 4 is part of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia's system of Trunk Highways. The route runs from Highway 104 exit 7 at Thomson Station to Glace Bay. Until the construction of the Trans-Canada Highway, Route 4 was a major traffic link in northern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island, and is still used on Cape Breton as an alternative to Highway 105.

[edit] Route description

Route 4's western terminus is presently at Highway 104 exit 7 in Thomson Station, near Oxford. From there, the route uses the old Highway 104 through the Wentworth Valley to join with Route 2 in Glenholme, near the mouth of the Folly River. Between Glenholme and Truro, Route 4 runs with Route 2 with signage. It continues in Bible Hill, where it uses the Pictou Road and another former Highway 104 routing through Mount Thom and Alma, "ending" again at Cowan Street (Highway 104 exit 21) in Westville. Route 4 continues eastward from downtown New Glasgow, closely following Highway 104 through Antigonish to the Canso Causeway, breaking up in four more places where no Highway 104 bypass has been constructed.

On the east side of the Canso Causeway at Port Hastings, Route 4 continues to the east through Port Hawkesbury and St. Peter's, along the south shore of Cape Breton Island. The route turns northeast along the eastern shore of Bras d'Or Lake through Big Pond and Ben Eoin to the lake's edge, then continuing northeast along the east bank of the Sydney River to Sydney, where it is known as Kings Road. In downtown Sydney, Route 4 turns east, using Welton Street (which becomes Grand Lake Road) to leave the city, passing the University of Cape Breton, Sydney Airport and the town of Reserve Mines. Route 4 enters Glace Bay on Reserve Street, ending at an intersection in the town's centre.

[edit] History

Route 4 formerly started at the New Brunswick border in Amherst. In the early years of the Trans-Canada Highway system, Route 4 was the designated TCH route in mainland Nova Scotia. When controlled-access sections of Highway 104 were first built in the late 1960s, the number replaced Route 4 entirely west of New Glasgow. As four-lane sections of Highway 104 were built in the late 1990s, the number 4 was again used to mark the former Mount Thom and Wentworth Valley sections of 104.