By STEPHEN LLEWELLYN
dgleg@nb.aibn.com
As published on page A3 on November 4, 2006 - Fredericton Daily Gleaner
LONGS CREEK - The new 29-kilometre, $125-million highway between Pokiok and Longs Creek will be safer for motorists than the old Route 2 along the St. John River, said Transportation Minister Denis Landry on Friday.
The official opening of this latest four-lane section of the Trans-Canada Highway means there is now a continuous four-lane divided highway from Woodstock to the Nova Scotia border.
Landry said statistics show that fatal traffic accidents are three times more likely to happen on a two-lane highway than on a four-lane divided highway.
He also said that most accidents on four-lane divided highways involve one vehicle.
"Safety for the people is a big, big, concern," said Landry.
According to the Department of Transportation, there were 807 traffic accidents on the Trans-Canada Highway between Grand Falls and Longs Creek between 1997 and 2001.
That included 34 fatalities and 432 personal injuries.
Between 1995 and 2001 on the Pokiok to Longs Creek section of the Trans-Canada Highway, there were 1.81 fatal accidents per kilometer driven.
A report commissioned by the department in 2002 estimated that the new highway will have an accident rate four to six times lower than the old highway.
The new highway also includes 32 linear kilometers of wildlife fencing for safety.
The project was a joint federal-provincial investment. It was part of the $400-million agreement for the twinning of the Trans-Canada Highway in this province that was funded through the $6-billion Canada Strategic Infrastructure Fund.
Mike Allen, Tory MP for Tobique-Mactaquac, also had safety on his mind at the opening.
"Safety is our government's No. 1 priority," he said. "My family, my friends and my constituents all travel on this highway."
The new highway also will have a financial impact for the province, said Landry.
"New Brunswick is the gateway to the Maritimes," he said. "A comprehensive highway system is essential for economic growth."
"By completing this section of the four-lane Trans-Canada Highway in our province, we are strengthening our connection to key markets and essential services.
Fredericton Coun. Walter Brown attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony and said the new highway will be good for the capital.
"It will bring business into Fredericton," he said. "It will bring tourism into Fredericton."
He also likes the new tourism information centre on the highway.
"It is working excellently," said Brown. "The tourism information centre was built from the view point that this highway was coming."
"It is good stop-off not only to sell Fredericton, but the greater Fredericton area."
The Pokiok-Longs Creek highway project bypasses 33.4 kilometres of two-lane Trans-Canada Highway known as Route 2 between Pokiok and Longs Creek.
Interchanges were constructed at Pokiok and Route 635 at Prince William near Kings Landing.
The Pokiok interchange includes a one-kilometre connector road to the existing Route 2 interchange. It will allow traffic to cross Hawkshaw Bridge over the St. John River and travel to Nackawic.
Bridges were constructed to cross the Pokiok Stream and Jewetts Creek. The service roads at Kings Landing and the Pokiok connector road were realigned.
The last 98-kilometre stretch of untwined Trans-Canada Highway in New Brunswick is between Grand Falls and Woodstock and is under construction.
Mark Devlin, president of operations for the Brun-way Group - the company that built the Pokiok to Longs Creek highway and is working on the Grand Falls to Woodstock highway - said 20 per cent of the paving for that project will be done this year.
The Woodstock to Grand Falls section will be completed on time by Nov. 1, 2007, he said.