PORT HASTINGS - Cape Breton's most prominent entrance-exit point is finally getting an overhaul, but area residents are offering mixed reactions to a presentation on the planned Port Hastings roundabout design released by Nova Scotia Public Works officials at a recent open house at the community's fire hall. 

Targeted to cost $15 million, the replacement of the decades-old Port Hastings Rotary was originally targeted to start in 2021, but apart from preliminary work adjacent to the existing rotary, the project has remained on hold while officials with the Department of Public Works (DPW) redesign the trajectory. The new project, which adds two traffic loops to the existing rotary, doubles the number of lanes in strategic areas and is targeted to include a new flyover lane from Trans-Canada Highway 105 to the main roundabout area, is now on track to get under way in the spring of 2023 and wrap up construction at the end of 2024. 

A sharp increase in traffic bottlenecks due to marine traffic making its way through the swing bridge at the nearby Canso Causeway originally precipitated discussions on replacing the rotary. However, Public Works officials and Inverness MLA Allan MacMaster told the December 5 meeting at the Port Hastings Fire Hall that replacing the bridge is not a financially viable option given its estimated price tag of $175,000-$200,000. MacMaster and his Public Works colleagues described the rotary redesign as the safest, fastest and most cost-efficient means of improving the traffic flow for those entering and leaving Cape Breton, as well as Strait Area residents living in the nearby communities. 

Also this week on TELILE 24/7:

2:11 and 43:13 - Nova Scotia's Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Robert Strang, is warning those with symptoms of respiratory viruses - including COVID-19, influenza and other RSVs - to limit their holiday activity and wear masks if they are unable to avoid being out in the public. 

25:30 - Brenna Walsh, the energy coordinator for the Ecology Action Centre, speaks of her concerns regarding the safety, efficiency, and general usefulness of green hydrogen production. 

39:27 - Richmond Warden Amanda Mombourquette and the county's Chief Administrative Officer, Troy MacCulloch, are pleased with the completion and adoption of the county's new Communications Strategy. 

52:12 - A request from the Village of St. Peter's for Richmond County to provide a loan guarantee for a new piece of snow-removal equipment for the village's sidewalks receives preliminary approval from councillors voting at the municipality's latest Committee of the Whole meeting. 

55:25 - Several Richmond councillors, including Warden Mombourquette, took time during their December 12 Committee of the Whole meeting to salute communities that have staged several Christmas events over the past few weeks.