Highway access to Bridgewater Business Park ongoing
A major highway interchange and infrastructure construction project will pave the way to increased access to the Bridgewater Business Park and open access to a large tract of undeveloped land.
According to the province's Department of Public Works website, planning and preliminary design work to finalize the interchange and associated connector roads is currently underway. This project will allow direct access to Highway 103 from the Bridgewater Business Park and surrounding areas providing improved connectivity to the provincial highway network.
The project will consist of a new diamond interchange, replacement of an existing highway structure, several intersection improvements, creation of auxiliary lanes that will connect the ramps between the new Exit 12A and Exit 13, a new overpass at St. Phillips Street to accommodate the new auxiliary lanes and ramps and a new road connection from the new interchange to St. Phillips Street.
The site says modern roundabouts will be constructed at the ramp terminals at Exit 12A, providing significant operational and safety benefits when compared to traditional signalized or stop-controlled intersections.
Auxiliary lanes will be constructed to connect the ramps from the new Exit 12A to the existing ramps at Exit 13.
This connection will allow vehicles coming onto the highway at one interchange and exiting at the other to stay within the auxiliary lane and avoid having to merge
with higher speed through traffic.
According to public works, the cost to construct the interchange, roundabouts and intersection improvements is currently estimated at $50.8 million. Because Highway 103 is part of the National Highway System, the project
has received approval for a Federal contribution under the National Trade Corridor Fund of up to 50 per cent of the total eligible project costs to a maximum contribution of $20.4 million.
The Town of Bridgewater will contribute $8.4 million towards the existing business park intersection upgrades and the new water main and sewer lines.
Patrick Hirtle of the Town of Bridgewater said several intersection and street improvement projects in and around the Bridgewater Business Park began in 2020 and were completed last year before work on the overpass at the Exit 12A interchange site.
Hirtle said the clearing of the interchange site largely took place in the spring and summer of 2021, as a fair amount of site preparation is required for this type of project. Work on the overpass began in the fall of 2021.
“One of the first major milestones, the installation of the girders for the overpass, took place in early March 2022,” Hirtle said. “Work on the overpass remains ongoing.”
Deborah Bayer, communications advisor for the Department of Public Works, said the department anticipates the project will be completed in Fall 2023.
“This new interchange gives you direct access to the business park and opens up 125 acres of land on the other side of the highway,” Bridgewater Mayor David Mitchell said during a recent interview. “But on the other side of the highway that raw land gets opened up, it creates a huge number of opportunities for our community to expand. To attract new businesses. A mix of businesses, commercial industrial that we are hoping to attract on that side of the highway.”
Mitchell said some of those 125 acres further from the highway can be used as residential property.
“We know we need more residential units in our community,” Mitchell said. “We need more housing.”
Mitchell said the project could lead to increased jobs in the area.
“In terms of future employment opportunities, we know we have already had a number of businesses — provincial, national and international — looking at this land as an opportunity to set up their business and lay down roots in Bridgewater and Nova Scotia,” he said.
John Swain, president of Swain Chartered Professional Accountants in Bridgewater, is hopeful the project will bring small businesses to that area, including retail, restaurants and coffee shops and encourage area residents to spend their money at home.
“Right now, we are so close to metro Halifax and surrounding area and it's easier and easier to get there because of the (highway) twinning.
“It might be an easy thing to hop in the car and go up and do your shopping and restauranting in the city. But if we have some extra services, places to shop and eat and more things to do right here, then we don't have to leave here,” Swain said.
Another potential boost to the local economy is that the project directly benefits the logistical operations of the area's largest employer and helps protect the environment.
“It's good for Michelin,” Mitchell said. “A hundred trucks come and go every day from Michelin. It shortens that drive by two kilometres.”
“It's close to 100 tons of CO2. Even that is important to us,” he said.
Mitchell is also hopeful the project could someday be the driver for a significant expansion of the Bridgewater Michelin operation.
“That plant could never expand because (of) the way the road layout is now,” Mitchell said.
“The new construction gives Michelin the option for a larger expansion in the future.”
“I certainly don't want to be the mayor of a community where Michelin looked and said, ‘If only we could have.' I would rather future proof this so that it's generations of employment,” Mitchell said.
“That's not the impetus for the interchange. But it's certainly something that should be crossing the minds of people in this community. Michelin is the largest private employer in Nova Scotia. They are vital to our local economy regionally and provincially. So, to me it is a win win,” he said.
Michelin spokesperson Nicolle Vuotto, director of communication, Canada Michelin North America (Canada) Inc., said in an email Michelin believes Nova Scotia is a great place to live and work and is very pleased to see all levels of government working together to strengthen the economy.
“The development of this trade corridor would allow Michelin to more efficiently transport products between our three Nova Scotia factories and to our North American and international distribution centres,” Vuotto said.
“While Michelin is continuously looking for opportunities to strengthen our industrial base here, we don't have any projects to announce at this time,” Vuotto said.
Mitchell will wait to see what lies around the next turn in the road.