Nova Scotia Highway 102

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Highway 102 is a north-south freeway in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia that runs from Halifax to Onslow, near Truro.

The highway follows a 99 kilometre (62 mile) route through the central part of the province linking Highway 103, Highway 101, and Highway 118 to Highway 104, the Trans-Canada Highway. The entire highway is a divided 4-lane freeway, with the exception of a short 5-lane (3 lanes northbound) section between the Highway 118 interchange at Miller Lake and the Halifax International Airport at Enfield.

The highway parallels the route of its predecessor, local trunk highway 2, and was developed in stages from the 1960s to the 1980s. Initially, some sections were controlled access 2-lane, as well as 4-lane. The route has also changed somewhat, particularly the last part to be constructed which resulted in the bypass of Shubenacadie through to Truro. The speed limit on most of the highway is 110 km/h (70 mph).

From the 1970s to the early 1990s, Highway 102 was actively patrolled by the RCMP using aerial surveillance for speed limit violations. The aerial surveillance program was restarted in 2005.

Portions of Highway 102 near Halifax are notorious for fog, due to the higher elevation of the highway. Deer are common along the highway, and often cause collisions.

In 2002 the highway was redesignated as Veteran's Memorial Highway while also maintaining its numerical designation. Within the Halifax metro area it is also known as the Bicentennial Highway (or Bi-Hi). The highway serves as a "B-Train" route between Halifax and the rest of the Atlantic Provinces .

Traffic volumes on Highway 102 between Highway 101 and Bayers Road are in excess of 32,000 vehicles per day, and recent information claims capacity in this stretch is only at about 40%. Many motorists still prefer using the older 2-lane Bedford Highway, which in comparison has volumes of over 40,000 vpd and operates at 100% capacity through much of its length.

[edit] Within the Halifax Peninsula

The 4-lane divided freeway portion of Highway 102 ends at Bayers Road in the west end of the city, which is far removed from the downtown core. As a result, some streets within Halifax are signed with Highway 102 markers, with the word "INBOUND" or "OUTBOUND", to mark the route into the downtown core, these streets are officially part of Highway 102.

Highway 102 Outbound directional marker on Sackville Street in Halifax

Going Inbound from the termination of Highway 102 at Bayers Road, the Inbound route markers are posted along Bayers Road to Connaught Ave, along Connaught Ave southbound to Quinpool Road eastbound, through the Willow Tree intersection to Bell Road, and along Sackville Street and into the downtown core. Outbound markers are posted beginning dowtown on Upper Water Street northbound, onto Cogswell St westbound, through the Willow Tree intersection onto Quinpool Road westbound, then onto Connaught Ave northbound, and onto Bayers Road Outbound/westbound towards the official Highway 102, where it begins as 4-lane divided freeway. Access to and from Nova Scotia Highway 111 is provided directly via the northern portion of Connaught Avenue (north of Bayers Rd), through the Windsor Street Exchange, and across the A. Murray MacKay Bridge.

This was setup as a Provincial Highway to delineate safe access to the downtown area of Halifax and the Halterm container terminal.The streets are considered "Provincial Roads" and fund by the province to the Halifax Regional Municipality for snow clearing and upkeep.

[edit] Communities served

Communities served along the highway include, from south to north:

[edit] Interchanges from South to North

Location	Exit Number	Kilometre Post*	Intersecting Roads
Halifax RM (Halifax)	0	0	Joseph Howe Drive
Halifax RM	1D	1	Northwest Arm Drive , Dunbrack Street
Halifax RM	1A	2	Highway 103 Lighthouse Route [1]
Halifax RM	2A	4	Lacewood Drive , Bayers Lake
Halifax RM	2	7	Kearney Lake Road
Halifax RM (Bedford)	(none)	11	Highway 113 (proposed freeway)
Halifax RM (Bedford)	3	12	Hammonds Plains Road (Route 213)
Halifax RM (Bedford)	4A/B	16	Highway 101 / Bedford Highway (Highway 1/Evangeline Trail)(Lower Sackville)[2]
Halifax RM (Sackville)	4C	17	Duke Street / Glendale Avenue
Halifax RM (Waverley)	5	24	Highway 2 / Highway 118 (northbound)[3]
Halifax RM (Waverley)	5	25	Highway 118 (southbound only)[4]
Halifax RM	5A	31	Aerotech Drive (Route 212)[5]
Halifax RM	6	34	Halifax International Airport
Halifax RM (Enfield)	7	40	Highway 2
Elmsdale	8	47	Route 214
Milford	9	57	Highway 14 / Route 224 [6]
Shubenacadie	10	64	Route 215
Stewiacke	11	70	Highway 2
Brookfield	12	84	Route 289
Millbrook First Nation	13A	93	Treaty Trail / Tower Road
Truro	13	95	Truro Heights Road
Truro	14	97	Highway 2 South / Route 236 (Robie Street) Glooscap Trail
Onslow	14A	98	Highway 2 North (northbound only) (Glooscap Trail)
Onslow	15W/15E	99	Highway 104