New highway connecting Wellington to N.S. Highway 102 to open next month

A photo shows the new five-kilometre highway that connects Trunk 2 to Exit 5A of Highway 102 south of Enfield. (Source: Province of Nova Scotia)

The Nova Scotia government says a new five-kilometre highway will provide better access from Wellington to the Aerotech Industrial Park and Halifax Stanfield International Airport.

The new highway, which connects Trunk 2 to Exit 5A of Highway 102 south of Enfield, is set to open in early September.

The project comes with a price tag of $70 million, with the federal government pitching in $10 million.

“The new Aerotech Connector will make travel safer, better and more efficient for thousands of Nova Scotians every day,” said Public Works Minister Fred Tilley in a news release Thursday.

“This is a significant piece of infrastructure that offers a solution that manages the challenges of growth as we address the needs of the travelling public.”

The new highway is built lower than the surrounding homes and is lined with trees in hopes of reducing noise and visibility. It also includes a climbing lane to allow drivers to pass slower-moving vehicles moving uphill.

Roundabouts have already been built where the connector joins Highway 102 and at the intersection of Trunk 2 and Sunnylea Road.

The government says the location of the connector was chosen to minimize the impact to environmentally-sensitive areas like wetlands.

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