Improvements being done at busy Trenton Connector intersection

PICTOU, NS - Improvements have been made at the intersection of Abercrombie Road and the Trenton Connector.  

District 8 Coun. Larry Turner told fellow Councillors during a Property Services Meeting Monday that some improvements have made at busy intersection to help ease traffic safety concerns in the area.

He said the cabinets on the light standards have been replaced and the sequencing of the lights have been changed.

“According to residents, they seem to be working better,” he said.

Coun. Turner said Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal told him recently that cameras will also be installed at the intersection this spring to conduct a traffic count.    

“They are also reviewing the posted speed limits,” he said. “It is 80 kms going into the intersection so there could be speed reductions when it is done.”

Coun. Turner added that information is being collected by the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal in regard to collisions in the areas. The provincial government’s data only goes back 10 years whereas the local fire department has records going back 25 years.

A public meeting was also recently held in Pictou County where residents voiced their concerns to officials of the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure about the Trenton Connector-Abercrombie Road intersection.   

A petition in the Legislature this week from Pictou County residents demanding that the government make the Trenton Connector safer. Some ideas brought forward at the meeting included reducing the speed, more policing in the area and building a roundabout at the intersection.

A petition signed by 800 people was also presented in the Nova Scotia Legislature. The petition notes that accidents on the Trenton Connector have resulted in injury and death over the years and asks the government to improve the state of the connector by creating a roundabout.

County Warden Robert Parker thanked Coun. Turner for bringing the information to Council because it was important to see improvements in the areas.

“We said we would stay on top of it, “he said. “We have to do what we are doing now and keep on top of it.  That is what the fire department and the people in the area want.”