For more than 20 years the reality of paying tolls to use the Cobequid Pass has been a source of frustration for many residents and businesspeople in Cumberland County.
And, just when many were getting their hopes up with the possibility of the tolls being removed, Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Minister Lloyd Hines dashed them recently when he said motorists will continue to pay tolls for a longer period due to a couple of projects government wants to complete along the 44-kilometre stretch of highway connecting Thomson Station in Cumberland County to Glenholme in Colchester County.
Several years ago, the provincial government, under Premier Stephen McNeil, pledged the tolls would be removed on the highway once it was paid for. While the opposition Conservatives accused the government of playing games by extending the amortization period to 2026, the Liberals said the highway would likely be paid for by 2019 or 2020 at which time the tolls would be removed, or at least restricted to out of province and/or commercial vehicles.
It was a promise made during the 2017 provincial election and repeated during the 2018 byelection in Cumberland South to replace former Tory leader Jamie Baillie.
Hines threw cold water on that pledge recently during a media scrum at Province House, saying early season closures of the highway because of poor weather has led government to look for ways to enhance safety on the highway for motorists while creating efficiencies for TIR staff.
The province is proposing the creation of a rest stop where motorists can go when poor weather, or a crash, closes the highway for an extended period of time while small maintenance areas will enable the department to place equipment in strategic locations so staff can quickly access it when needed.
During the past several years the highway has been closed due to weather-related issues in November. These issues have left people stranded on the highway for hours and TIR staff have noted it’s difficult to respond with equipment to clear the roadway when it’s blocked by stranded vehicles.
It’s not known how much these initiatives are going to cost, but the hope is that once completed they will make the highway safer for motorists and enable road crews to reopen the road quicker in times of bad weather. It’s probably better these initiatives will be funded out of toll revenues because if we were to wait for the province’s capital budget it could be several years before they’re completed.
This makes sense, especially if it enhances safety.
When the highway opened in 1997 it did so with tremendous controversy. The tolls were not popular, but people also realized their purpose – to pay for a highway that replaced a two-lane strip of pavement through the Wentworth Valley that was known as one of Canada’s most dangerous highways that had claimed the lives of more than 50 people over a 10-year period.
People have come to accept the tolls and appreciate the value of the highway, even if there are still those who believe it was built in the wrong place.
Paying a toll to use the highway is not the controversial issue it was 23 years ago – although truckers and businesses on the Cumberland County side of the highway may differ. Still, a promise is a promise and Nova Scotians still expect the tolls to be removed for all motorists once the highway is paid for – whenever that is.