{"id":94626,"date":"2026-07-23T16:15:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T19:15:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/cape-breton-highway-infrastructure-fixups-outlined-for-summer-and-beyond\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T16:15:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T19:15:41","slug":"cape-breton-highway-infrastructure-fixups-outlined-for-summer-and-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/cape-breton-highway-infrastructure-fixups-outlined-for-summer-and-beyond\/","title":{"rendered":"Cape Breton highway, infrastructure fixups outlined for summer and beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Article contentTilley saidhe\u2019sbeen hearing from residents in thearea about the deteriorating condition of theCabot Trail, andputting repairs to that roadway as one of Public Works\u2019 priorities.Article content\u201cWe actually were able to move that up a little bit in the queue, so that\u2019ll start this year andcarryinto next year,\u201d he said.\u201cIt\u2019sa significant amount of work, because not only is it resurfacing but also widening to include the Blue Route (for cyclists), and sothere\u2019sa lot of ditching that would berequiredthere (plus)culverts along the way. So,you\u2019llsee work there this summer.\u201dArticle contentTilley also discusses improvements coming to the trail\u2019s eastern side (around the Cape Smokey area) and northern side (Cape North area), outside the boundaries of the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, as within those boundaries fall under Parks Canada\u2019s responsibility.Article content\u201cThere are six areas around the Cabot Trail that will be addressed over the next few years, and as usual, we will take a worst-first approach,\u201d Tilley said. \u201cI know down the north side of it is an issue \u2026 and also there\u2019ll be some maintenance work on the Cape Smokey (side) as well. Those will be addressed as we go forward.\u201dArticle contentArticle content Resurfacing plans are in the works for the current Port Hastings rotary roadway, Public Works Minister Fred Tilley says. Photo by IAN NATHANSON\/CAPE BRETON POST FILEArticle contentPORT HASTINGS ROTARYArticle contentIt has been at least five years since the province has been working on a suitable design of what would ultimately become a Port Hastings roundabout.Article contentWhen asked about where that currently stands, Tilley responded, \u201cThere was a design that was proposed for that area, and it just didn\u2019t fly with the rest of the area \u2014 and it was very expensive.Article content\u201cWe\u2019ve gone back to the drawing board there, and the team is working on what that can look like for the most efficient movement of people and goods.\u201dArticle contentIn the meantime, Tilley said he does want to see work done on the current roadways that surround the rotary, as much of them \u2014 along with a portion of Trans-Canada Highway 104 on the Cape Breton side \u2014 contain ruts and potholes aplenty.Article content\u201cI\u2019m a minister that travels that highway (through the Port Hastings rotary) constantly, and believe me, I feel every bump through there,\u201d Tilley said. \u201cThe first stage is to get that all resurfaced, so that our tourists and other motorists can travel through there safely.Article contentArticle content\u201cPlus, we\u2019re adding an extra lane as you head west down toward the (Canso) causeway to help alleviate some of the traffic there.\u201dArticle content Fred Tilley, Nova Scotia Public Works minister: \u201cI\u2019m a minister that travels that highway (through the Port Hastings rotary) constantly, and believe me, I feel every bump through there.\u201d Photo by CHRIS CONNORS\/CAPE BRETON POST FILEArticle contentSEAL ISLAND BRIDGEArticle contentThis past spring, Trans-Canada Highway 105 was briefly reduced to one lane over the Seal Island Bridge for several weeks for the replacement of bridge joints.Article contentWork is continuously being done to maintain the 65-year-old iconic structure that clears the Great Bras d\u2019Or Channel \u2014 as it now stands.Article content\u201cThis year\u2019s project involved the expansion joints (that) were all replaced,\u201d Tilley said. \u201cAnd next year, there will be more steel repairs and coatings added to the steel above the piers. Then, from 2028 to 2030, there will be some sway damper improvements.Article content\u201cSo over the next couple of years, $40 million is being put into that bridge to give it an extended life of an extra 15 years, which gives us time to plan and look for a replacement.\u201dArticle contentIn December 2023, during a news conference in North Sydney, two Public Works officials, along with two members of Halifax-based engineering firm COWI, offered up what they feel would be the next steps leading up to replacing the structure, according to recommendations from a completed benefit-cost analysis report from COWI and Dartmouth-based Stantec. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Article contentTilley saidhe\u2019sbeen hearing from residents in thearea about the deteriorating condition of theCabot Trail, andputting repairs to that roadway as one of Public Works\u2019 priorities.Article content\u201cWe actually were able to move that up a little bit in the queue, so that\u2019ll start this year andcarryinto next year,\u201d he said.\u201cIt\u2019sa significant amount of work, because [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":94627,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118,590,1],"tags":[116,589],"class_list":["post-94626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-indigenous","category-newfoundland-and-labrador","category-uncategorized","tag-indigenous","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}