Drivers in the South Shore could pay up to seven dollars per trip if Highway 103 is twinned.
The province has released the information to be presented at the upcoming public consultations on highway twinning.
According to the report, twinning Highway 103 from Tantallon at exit 5 to exit 12 in Bridgewater will cost $448 million dollars.
Tolls could range anywhere from $4.08 to $6.81 per trip.
By twinning the 68.1 kilometre stretch, it’s estimated commuters will shave nine minutes off their travel time.
The study indicates up to 10,500 cars travel parts of the 103 on a daily basis.
Public consultations will be held at the Best Western in Cookville on February 7 and at the Atlantica Oak Island Resort in Western Shore on February 8.
Representatives will be there to present the report and guage public willingness for using tolls to have the highways twinned.
If you are unable to attend the meetings, you can read the information and provide feedback on the Highway Twinning Webpage.
Province hosting 12 public consultations on highway twinning. For dates & locations, go to: https://t.co/w6IvuDX4U8
— NS_TIR (@NS_TIR) January 18, 2017
Meanwhile,
Nova Scotia NDP Leader Gary Burrill says he would support toll highways, but only if they remain in public hands.
“The government puts up the money but the management and the implementation is done by a private company. Then years later, the private company has made tremendous profits. That’s money we could’ve had in the bank now to go towards our twinning projects.”
Burrill says a private partner will not speed up construction of highways.
His concern lies with who will own the highways once they are complete.
“We can do it through the public of Nova Scotia every bit as quickly as we could do it in a P3 arrangement only it’s cheaper, and when it’s finished, we’ll have more resources for the next twinning project we want to do.”
Burrill says Nova Scotians have handed twenty years of profits from the Cobequid Pass to a private company.
He says the province could’ve used that money to fund the highways that need to be built now.
Burrill doesn’t want to see Nova Scotians make the same mistake when discussing toll roads this time around.
He says the taxpayer ultimately funds the construction and should be the ones to benefit.
