MLA pushes for roundabout at Trenton connector
“We have to keep the heat on them … I can’t but help and think that what happened in Humboldt can happen here because there are buses and trucks that go through there.”
Warden Robert Parker
Pictou West MLA Karla MacFarlane is calling on the provincial government to construct a roundabout at the Trenton/Abercrombie intersection.
MacFarlane told guests at CHAD Transit’s annual general meeting Thursday that she is currently helping to circulate a petition that calls for a roundabout at the intersection which has been the location of multiple vehicle collisions over the years.
She said in speaking with emergency response workers it was agreed that there many changes that can be made to make the intersection safer for motorists, but a roundabout is the ultimate fix.
“We figured it is the safest route to take and we know it is expensive but lives matter and we will always put safety first so we decided to ask for the roundabout,” she said.
Since 1999, the Abercrombie Fire Department has responded to more than 25 collisions at the Trenton and Abercrombie intersection.
County councillors have made the intersection a monthly agenda topic in hopes of keeping it in the minds of local residents Pictou West MLA Karla MacFarlane and Faus Johnson sign a petition that calls for a roundabout to be built at the intersection of Trenton and Abercrombie Road. MacFarlane said the petition will be available at her office as well as from emergency responders in county who want to see changes to the area.
and politicians. It has written to Nova Scotia Department of Infrastructure and Renewal several times asking for changes to the intersection, but as of yet nothing has been done although it has had assurances from TIR that some improvements will occur.
“We have to keep the heat on them,” said Warden Robert Parker during a recent committee meeting. “I can’t but help and think that what happened in Humboldt can happen here because there are buses and trucks that go through there.”
Parker said saying something will be done isn’t the same as getting it done.
“Timelines are needed,” he said. “The government works slowly, but we need to make things happen.”
MacFarlane said she has personally invited Transportation Minister Lloyd Hines to Pictou County to see first-hand the county’s concerns about the intersection and he promised to be visit her before the start of summer.
Other areas of concern
When Nova Scotia Transportation Minister Lloyd Hines does visit, Pictou West MLA Karla MacFarlane said she will also be showing him the need for improvements on Westville Road between the Pictou County Wellness Centre and a nearby overpass as well as the centre of the Pictou rotary.
She said the rotary is a gateway into the county and the province, yet it looks unappealing with uncut grass and no landscaping.
The same concern was recently brought up by County Coun. Darla MacKeil who said 600,000 visitors came through the county last year via Northumberland Ferries and there is little signage or beautification along Highway 106 or the Pictou rotary to entice motorists to stop in the area.
“A lot of first impressions are made at the rotary,” said MacKeil, adding that mowing the grass in the centre of the circle once or twice a month isn’t enough.
MacFarlane said she has spoken with TIR locally about the issue and stresses it is not reflection of the work being done by the men and women of the department, but rather the lack of resources available from the provincial government for landscaping projects.
“The minister is not recognizing certain locations in our province that need more beautification so that our tourists and first-time visitors see we take pride in our province.”