Delaying new interchange may be short sighted

News that the proposed Granite Drive interchange in New Minas has been delayed is certainly not welcomed by anyone in Kings County.

The project had previously been approved and land had been cleared, leaving many hopeful that work would be done sooner, rather than later, to construct the new highway ramp into the eastern end of the village.

However, Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal New Minas area manager Robin Homans confirmed last week that the project is no longer part of department’s five-year plan. It has been deferred, pending the next round of federal funding through Infrastructure Canada’s Building Canada Fund.

Interestingly, the project remains listed on the updated 2015 five-year plan on the provincial website, although that document says that work won’t begin until 2016-2017. Perhaps that’s a matter of wishful thinking that federal money will come through by then.

Nova Scotia Finance Minister Diana Whalen was in Wolfville last week to get input on the budget as part of a crossprovince tour. During her stop at Acadia, she revealed that Nova Scotians shouldn’t expect the budget to be balanced by the Liberals until at least 2017-2018.

She also stated that taxes and other revenue would have to pay for any infrastructure projects the province does because the Liberals didn’t want to add to the debt through infrastructure projects.

We all need to look at the bottom line these days – especially the government – but bumping this project off the five-year plan might be short sighted. The new highway exit will help promote economic development in the area, which would mean more tax dollars coming in, both municipally and provincially, by encouraging growth in a new section of the village. It will also help bring shoppers and travellers into the area via another location, making it easy for them to pop in, fill up their tanks, do some shopping and eat at a local restaurant.

The highway access to New Minas through Granite Drive will also do a lot to address some of the traffic congestion currently experienced daily by drivers along Commercial Street.

Shouldn’t the province be doing everything it can to help spur economic development in this tough financial climate, especially in rural areas? It would be much easier to help attract big box businesses to the area if they could be sold on building on land with easy access to Highway 101. The expansion of New Minas, approved by the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board a few years ago, means this is an ideal spot to build.

The project is certainly a priority for the village commission, chairman Dave Chaulk said last week. The Kings County council has also stated that it’s a priority and plans to send a letter of support to the province.

Hopefully, the provincial and federal government will get their ducks in a row quickly to move forward on this project.