Changes coming to dangerous Cape Breton intersection

The province will make improvements at an intersection in Gardiner Mines, N.S., that has been the scene of numerous motor vehicle crashes.

The intersection connects Seaside Drive and Gardiner Road. Traffic is especially heavy in the summer as people use Gardiner Road to reach the beach in Dominion.

The changes have been announced as part of the province's five-year highway improvement plan.

The Department of Transportation Infrastructure Renewal said the project will improve safety by adding a dedicated right-turn lane onto Gardiner Road from Trunk 28, which brings traffic from New Waterford.

Chief Steve Binder of the Reserve Mines Fire Department said his department, along with EHS and police, have responded to accidents at the intersection.

"It's a very busy intersection at times," he said.

He said the Reserve Mines department has spent "countless hours and resources" at the intersection over the years dealing with motor vehicle collisions.

"I'm just looking at the last couple of years, averaging 20 to 40 calls per year, ranging from fender-benders to rollovers, entrapment," he said. "So it's pretty intense there."

Binder said speed and the design of the roadway are factors.

"Any change they make there, whether it's speed or access to get off that road, is certainly going to be an advantage to the public," Binder said.

He said the fire department has been lobbying for several years to get changes made to the intersection.

Jamie Chisholm, the Department of Transportation's eastern district director, said improvements will include a new turning lane that will slow traffic coming to the intersection from New Waterford.

"I guess if you're at the end of Gardiner Road, when you're looking left to see what the traffic is doing you should have a better indication which is the through traffic," he said. "That's the biggest aspect of the change."

Chisholm said it is a "good news story."

"This has been on a radar for a number of years and this obviously is a high priority, and I'm glad to see that we're moving forward with the positive improvements here."

A tender will go out later this month for the $500,000 project. Chisholm said he expects the work to start this summer and take about two months to complete.

MORE TOP STORIES