PROJECT TO REPLACE DEADLY HIGHWAY SEEKS APPROVALS

Nova Scotia’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal has requested environmental approval to twin a highway that has been the site of hundreds of crashes and multiple fatalities in the last decade. The project seeks to duplicate Highway 104 along a 38-kilometre stretch between Sutherlands River in Pictou County, N.S., and Addington Forks in Antigonish County, which will include 28 kilometres built alongside the existing road and 10 kilometres of a new, four-lane highway. In the registration document submitted Thursday, the department identified multiple environmental impacts of the project, including decreased air and water quality in the area, increased noise levels, loss of animal habitat and the loss of Mi’kmaq traditional use sites.