New Brunswick Route 2

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


New Brunswick Route 2
Trans-Canada Highway
Length:	518.1 km^[1] (321.9 mi)
Formed:	1920s
West end:	Quebec Route 185 near St-Jacques
Major junctions:	Route 17 in St-Leonard Route 95 in Woodstock Route 3 in Longs Creek Route 8 near Fredericton Route 7 in Oromocto Route 10 in Youngs Cove Route 1 in River Glade Route 15 in Dieppe Route 16 (TCH) in Aulac
East end:	NS Highway 104 near Aulac
Major cities:	Edmundston, Grand Falls, Woodstock, Fredericton, Oromocto, Moncton, Sackville

Route 2 is the designation for the primary route of the Trans-Canada Highway through the Canadian province of New Brunswick. It is the province's main east-west highway route for carrying traffic between the Atlantic provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island to central Canada.

The western terminus of Route 2 (km 0) is approximately 15 km (9 miles) north of the city of Edmundston in the northwestern part of the province where it meets Quebec route 185 at the inter-provincial boundary. The eastern terminus is 523 km (325 miles) to the southeast at the Missiguash River which forms part of the inter-provincial boundary with Nova Scotia and where Route 2 meets Nova Scotia Highway 104.

1 Major communities served
2 Original alignment
3 4-lane Construction
4 Trans-Canada Re-alignment
5 Future plans
6 Interchanges from west to east
7 See also

[edit] Major communities served

The highway from Edmundston continues south, following the Saint John River valley, and passes through St. Leonard, Grand Falls, Perth-Andover, Florenceville, Hartland, Woodstock, Fredericton, and Oromocto.

The highway leaves the Saint John River valley south of Oromocto and turns east, crossing the province south of Grand Lake and passing by Havelock to River Glade, Salisbury, Moncton and Dieppe before turning south and passing by Memramcook, Sackville, and Aulac before reaching the inter-provincial boundary.

[edit] Original alignment

The majority of road development in New Brunswick follows settlement patterns which pre-dated motor transport, thus most communities developed along navigable waterways or were served by railways. The development of controlled access expressways only began in the 1960s and only around the largest communities. The majority of early provincial highway improvements merely consisted of upgrading local roads.

Route 2 initially followed local roads from the N.B.-Quebec interprovincial boundary to Edmundston and down the Saint John River Valley to Grand Falls. There, it crossed to the west bank of the Saint John River, and continued south to Florenceville where it crossed to the east bank to continue to Hartland, then recrossed the river to the west bank which it followed to Fredericton in a southeast direction.

At Fredericton a controlled-access 4-lane section was built around the city, and the highway crossed the Saint John River on the Princess Margaret Bridge to the east bank just south of the central business district. Following the river's east bank just metres above its (frequently flooded in spring) water level, the route continued south to Jemseg where the highway turned east along the southeast shore of Grand Lake to Youngs Cove Road where the highway turned south to Coles Island and on to Sussex.

At Sussex the highway turned east again and passed by Petitcodiac and then by Salisbury. East of Salisbury, Route 2 followed local roads over a series of low hills north of Moncton, cresting at Lutes Mountain, before descending and following a controlled access section bypassing the city and Dieppe, skirting the edge of the Memramcook River valley and on to Sackville, then Aulac, and finally the N.B.-N.S. inter-provincial boundary.

[edit] 4-lane Construction

From the early upgrades of these local roads in the 1960s under Trans-Canada Highway funding (which became designated Route 2) until the mid-1980s, very little was done to improve New Brunswick highways, leading to significant deterioration of the Trans-Canada Highway in New Brunswick. By the mid-1980s Route 2 was a significant traffic hazard and a major embarrassment to the province.

The provincial government changed in 1987 with the election of Premier Frank McKenna who was focused on improving the province's business climate. One of the government's major tasks was to revamp provincial transportation infrastructure and McKenna entered into aggressive negotiations with the federal government of prime minister Brian Mulroney to secure federal funding of new highway projects. McKenna viewed Route 2 (the Trans-Canada Highway) and Route 1 in New Brunswick as being partially a federal responsibility since they funnelled the majority of Atlantic Canada's highway traffic to the U.S. and central Canada. The signing of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement in 1989, coupled with federal approval for numerous railway line abandonments in the Maritimes during the 1980s, led to predictions of further highway traffic growth on New Brunswick highways in the 1990s.

Under the remainder of the McKenna administration's years of power (until 1997), Route 2 saw significant upgrading to become a 4-lane expressway on heavily-travelled portions of the highway between the N.B.-N.S. inter-provincial boundary and Penobsquis (east of Sussex). Other isolated sections were also upgraded south of Grand Lake and between Edmundston and St. Leonard, as well as at Woodstock where an interchange connected to Interstate 95.

[edit] Trans-Canada Re-alignment

Highway 2 eastbound, west of Edmundston

Despite the upgrades, the uncontrolled-access sections of Route 2 were still a significant traffic hazard. Intensive lobbying from other provincial governments in the Atlantic provinces, as well as various trucking companies and business and transportation interests, asked that Route 2 be further upgraded. Unfortunately provincial finances could not handle the relatively large price tag required, even with the federal funding at the time.

As a result, the final years of the McKenna administration saw a significant re-alignment of Route 2 proposed, running from Long Creek west of Fredericton, by-passing Fredericton and Oromocto to the west, and continuing southeast to Jemseg where it would cross the Saint John River and connect with an existing 4-lane section south of Grand Lake. From there the highway would again depart from its original alignment (which headed south to Sussex) and instead head due east to meet the existing Route 2 alignment at River Glade, just east of Petitcodiac.

The new 225 km (140 miles) of new 4-lane controlled-access expressway would be privately financed and built, with the builder charging tolls for a 25-year period before the provincial government would gain control of the highway. In the late 1990s, an agreement was signed with a private consortium called Maritime Road Development Corporation (led by former provincial Liberal leader and former federal Minister of Transport Douglas Young) to build the new Route 2 alignment at an estimated cost of $1 billion (CAD).

The toll issue was not without controversy as it, along with several other issues, led to the downfall of McKenna's successor, Camille Theriault in 1999 to PC leader Bernard Lord. The highway was built, but tolls were removed from most portions of the highway before they opened. This portion of the privately built (and owned) re-alignment of the Trans-Canada Highway has a hidden toll which is charged to the provincial government, thus motorists do not directly pay for their highway usage. Along with a payment worth millions of dollars to get out of the original contract, the provincial government now makes all provincial taxpayers cover the cost of the highway when the original plan had been for a user-pay system under a toll structure.

The new alignment of the Trans-Canada Highway opened in October, 2001 and at this time the portion of the old Route 2 alignment which ran between River Glade and Sussex was re-designated as part of Route 1, extending the eastern terminus of that highway approximately 40 km. The re-alignment also had the effect of shortening the total length of Route 2 in the province by approximately 40 km (25 miles).

The re-alignment and construction of Route 2 between Long Creek and River Glade "catapaulted" New Brunswick highways forward by decades virtually overnight. Suddenly it was now possible to travel from Fredericton into Nova Scotia (and on to Halifax) completely on a 4-lane controlled access highway.

The Fredericton-Moncton section was officially opened to traffic at 10am on October 24th, 2001, five weeks ahead of schedule.

[edit] Future plans

This article contains information about a planned or expected future road.
It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the road's construction and/or completion approaches and more information becomes available.

The high quality of construction of the new Route 2 alignment and improvement in the provincial highway system was not unnoticed by the new government of premier Bernard Lord. Throughout 2000–2003, several small 4-lane controlled access sections on Route 2 were opened, most requiring construction of a new alignment.

During this same period, negotiations were undertaken with the federal government to secure funding to complete the last, and one of the most costly parts of the new construction — a 130 km (81 mile) gap between Woodstock and Grand Falls over the Appalachian Mountains, and a 30 km (18 mile) gap between Long Creek and Pokiok west of Fredericton that opened in November 2006. [1]

In August, 2003 a joint announcement was made by premier Lord and prime minister Jean Chrétien for a $400 million (CAD) agreement to complete upgrades to the last remaining non-controlled access section of Route 2.

The construction, to be completed by November 1st, 2007 will see a completely new alignment built north of Woodstock, staying several kilometres inland from the Saint John River's west bank, and parallelling the Canada-U.S. border north to Grand Falls where it crosses to the east bank of the river. In addition to upgrades to Route 2, New Brunswick Highway 95, a short connecting route between the Trans-Canada Highway at Woodstock and Interstate 95 at the Canada-U.S. border at Houlton is also having similar upgrades.

When completed later this decade, the entire length of Route 2, the Trans-Canada Highway in New Brunswick, will be a 4-lane controlled-access freeway with a posted speed limit of 110 km/h (70 mph) with a design speed of up to 150 km/h (95 mph).

The construction is being done by Brunway a consortium consisting of Atcon Construction and SNC-Lavalin.

[edit] Interchanges from west to east

Location	Exit Number	Intersecting Roads
Saint-Jacques	8	Rue Principale (Highway 144)
Edmundston	15	Boulevard l'Acadie (Highway 144)
Edmundston	18	Boulevard Hébert (Highway 120)
Saint-Basile	21	Boulevard de Centre Madawaska
Saint-Basile	26	Rue Principale (Highway 144)
Riviere-Verte	32	Chemin Davis
Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska	46	Chemin Martin
Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes	51	Chemin Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes
Saint-Leonard	56	Chemin de Grande-Rivière (Highway 144)
Saint-Leonard	58	Rue St-Jean ( Highway 17)
Rang-des-Borgouin	69	Chemin Bourgoin
Grand Falls	75	Chemin Madawaska ( Highway 108) / Chemin Saint-Andre (Highway 255)
Grand Falls	79	Boulevard Éverard-Daigle
Grand Falls	81*	Chemin Portage (Highway 130)
Limestone	92**	Highway 375
Aroostook	104	Tinker Road
Perth-Andover	115	(Highway 190)
River de Chute	130**	(Highway 560)
Florenceville	152**	Centreville Road (Highway 110)
Florenceville	153	Main Street ( Highway 105)
Peel	164	Lansdowne Road
Hartland	170	Main Street (Highway 105)
Hartland	171**	Highway 103
Waterville	173*	Somerville Road (westbound only)
Jacksonville	182**	Highway 560
Woodstock	185	Connell Road (Highway 550)
Woodstock	187	Houlton Road (Highway 555 / (Highway 103))
Woodstock	188	( to Highway 95)
Woodstock	191	Beardsley Road
Woodstock First Nation	194	Hodgdon Road
Speerville	200	Dugan Road
Meductic	212	Canterbury Road (Highway 122) / Old Route 2 (Highway 165)
Ritchie	223	Charlie Lake Road
Pokiok	231	Hawkshaw Bridge, to Nackawic
Prince William	253	Highway 635
Longs Creek	258	( Highway 3) / Old Route 2 ( Highway 102)
Hanwell	271	Mazerolle Settlement Road
Fredericton	280	( Highway 8) (eastbound only)
Fredericton	281	Hanwell Road (Highway 640)
Fredericton / New Maryland	285	Regent Street / New Maryland Highway ( Highway 101)
Fredericton	294	( Highway 7) (westbound only)
Lincoln	297	Nevers Road
Oromocto	301	Waasis Road (Highway 102) (eastbound only)
Oromocto	303	Miramichi Road
Oromocto	306	( Highway 7) (eastbound only)
Upper Gagetown	330	River Road (Highway 102)
Sheffield	333	Old Route 2 (Highway 105)
Jemseg	339	Grand Lake Drive (Highway 105) / (Highway 695)
Mill Cove	347	Grand Lake Drive (Highway 105)
Coles Island	365	Old Route 2 ( Highway 10)
Intervale	414	Havelock Road (Highway 885)
River Glade	423	Highway 1
Salisbury	433	Fredericton Road ( Highway 112)
Berry Mills	446	Berry Mills Road (Highway 128)
Moncton (Magnetic Hill)	450	Mountain Road (Highway 126)
Moncton	452	Gorge Road
Moncton	454	Mapleton Road
Moncton	459	Elmwood Drive ( Highway 115)
Moncton	462	Harrisville Boulevard
Lakeville	465	Shediac Road (Highway 134)
Dieppe	467	Shediac Four-Lane Highway ( Highway 15)
Meadow Brook	474	Scoudouc Road (Highway 132)
Calhoun	480	Calhoun Road
Memramcook	482	Rue Renaissance
Memramcook	488	Chemin du Lac / (Highway 933)
Sackville	500	Walker Road
Sackville	504	Main Street (Highway 940)
Sackville	506	Bridge Street ( Highway 106)
Aulac	513	Highway 16