NB highway expansion opens to fanfare

SAINT JOHN, N.B. – A 10-year project to twin a section of Saint John’s Highway 1 has been completed and was opened to traffic for the first time yesterday.

According to the Telegraph-Journal, the $105 million provincial project included an all-new section of highway, new overpasses — including about 20 structures over water — and extensive blasting to make way for the new roadway.

The newly twinned road extends from King Street in St. Stephen to Waweig, and has a speed limit of 110 km/h.

The updated section of Highway 1 replaces an older stretch of highway, which was situated close to homes and businesses and had speed limits ranging from 70 to 90 km/h.

Local trucking companies are pleased with the completion of the project. They anticipate fewer accidents, lower freight costs and savings in both mileage and travel time.

Eventually, the new stretch of highway will connect to the international border crossing between St. Stephen and Calais, Maine. The delay in opening this portion of new highway is due to construction delays on the American border crossing, according to the report.

This opening is part of a larger plan to twin Highway 1 from Waweig to Lepreau, a $275-million project funded by the provincial and federal government, which is scheduled for completion in 2014.

As for the old highway, it is going to be renamed and reopened at some point, but a date for that plan has yet to be established.