Province opens bidding for major Highway 102 projects

Being called possibly one of Nova Scotia’s most significant transportation projects, the Highway 102 multi-million dollar improvements are making some progress.

The province said in a press release that a request for proposals was issued on Oct. 31, finally setting in motion ideas for how to make the busy highway safer and produce design work. Specifically, proposals are for a consultant to help identify work between exits 0 and 4 through the Halifax Regional Municipality.

Needs identified include safety upgrades to the interchanges at 102 and Highway 101, Highway 107, Hammonds Plains Road exit and Kearney Lake Road exit.

A 20-kilometre portion of the 102, between 107 and Bayers Road, will be designed to increase safety and capacity to move more people. This could be creating a high-occupancy vehicle lane or modernizing interchanges.

The Department of Public Works has started early planning for the project, which looks at traffic, environmental screening and mapping.

Firms have until Nov. 26 to bid on the project. Once selected, the public will have opportunities to provide feedback in 2026.

As the improvements to the highway are made, the government plans to add 25,000 housing units over the next several decades. In May, a portion of land beside Highway 102 was designated a provincially special planning area, giving governments a focus for where to design new communities.

The 255 hectares west of the highway between Kearney Lake Road and Lacewood Drive were designated to accommodate population growth. This designation followed years of studies modelling how significant this portion of HRM is.

These highway improvements were a part of Atlantic Canada’s Regional Transportation Plan, which outlines how traffic will be improved in HRM over the next 20 years.