Nova Scotia Highway 102 facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
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| Veterans Memorial Highway (Fall River to Truro) Bicentennial Drive (exit 0 to exit 5) |
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Highway 102 highlighted in red
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| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by Nova Scotia Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal | ||||
| Length | 106 km (66 mi) | |||
| Existed | 1949–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end | Bayers Road in Halifax | |||
| North end |  Hwy 104 (TCH) in Onslow |
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| Location | ||||
| Counties: | Hants, Colchester, Halifax Regional Municipality, East Hants | |||
| Highway system | ||||
Provincial highways in Nova Scotia
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Highway 102 is a north-south highway in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia that runs from Halifax to Onslow, immediately north of the town of Truro. It is the busiest highway in Atlantic Canada.
In 2000, the section of Highway 102 between Fall River and Truro was redesignated as Veterans Memorial Highway. Between Fall River and Halifax it is known as Bicentennial Drive or the Bicentennial Highway.
History
The highway parallels the route of its predecessor, Trunk 2, and was developed in stages from the 1949 to the 1970s. Initially, some sections were controlled access two-lane, as well as four-lane. The route has also changed somewhat, particularly during the mid-1970s when the last part to be constructed resulted in the bypass of Shubenacadie and Stewiacke.
The initial speed limit on the highway was 100 km/h (60 mph) until 1997, when it was raised to 110 km/h (70 mph) for the section between the interchange with Highway 118 (approximately km 26) and exit 13A at Millbrook (approximately km 92). South of Highway 118 and north of Millbrook, the highway retains its original 100 km/h speed limit.
From the 1970s to the early 1990s, Highway 102 was actively patrolled by the RCMP using aerial surveillance for speed limit violations. The aerial surveillance program was restarted in 2005.
The original portion of the highway from Bayers Road to Fall River was opened in October 1958, the bicentennial year of the First General Assembly of Nova Scotia (1758); as such, it is the oldest section of controlled access highway in Atlantic Canada. This portion of the highway was officially named Bicentennial Drive, but it has become known as the "Bicentennial Highway", often shortened to "Bi-Hi", even in official documents.
New ramps connecting the highway to Dutch Village Road (now Joseph Howe Drive) were opened on 24 November 2001. The ramps formerly exited onto Westerwald Street, and were rebuilt and realigned at a cost of $2 million.
A new interchange at Larry Uteck Boulevard (designated Exit 2B) was opened in October 2010 between Exits 2 (Kearney Lake Road) and 3 (Hammonds Plains Road). It was built at a cost of $24.4 million. It has since been connected on the west side of the interchange to Kearney Lake Road. This is the first major interchange to be built on Highway 102 since the mid-1990s and is intended to serve the rapidly growing community of Bedford South and the future area of Bedford West. The interchange is based on the traditional diamond layout but uses roundabouts instead of signalized intersections. As part of this project, Larry Uteck Boulevard was extended to the new interchange and now provides a direct connection between Highway 102 and Bedford Highway, serving new residential retail areas.
An underpass beneath Highway 102 between Dunbrack Street and Lacewood Drive, built to link the Fairview neighbourhood with Bayers Lake Industrial Park, opened to traffic on 9 December 2011.
Route description
The highway follows a 102-kilometre (63 mi) route through the central part of the province linking Highway 103, Highway 101, and Highway 118 to Highway 104, the Trans-Canada Highway.
The entire highway is a divided four-lane freeway, with the exception of a five-lane (three lanes northbound) section between the Highway 118 interchange at Miller Lake and a point between exits 6 and 7 near the Halifax International Airport at Enfield. This three-lane northbound section is not a result of particularly high traffic volumes; rather, it is a relic of the previous configuration of this section of Highway 102. Previously, the section from Fall River to near Enfield was a three-lane undivided section, including a centre passing lane favouring northbound traffic. When the highway was twinned, the three lanes were left in place for northbound traffic. Portions of Highway 102 south of the Halifax International Airport pass through several microclimates and are notorious for frequent variations in visibility due to fog caused by elevation changes.
Exit list
From south to north:
| County | Location | km | mi | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
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| Halifax | Halifax | 0.0 | 0.0 | Bayers Road, Mailing Street | At grade; official Hwy 102 southern terminus | |
| 0.5 | 0.31 | 0 | Joseph Howe Drive | Inbound exit; outbound entrance | ||
| 1.9 | 1.2 | 1D | Dunbrack Street (Trunk 32) | No southbound exit; exits 1K/1H on Trunk 32; Trunk 32 is unsigned | ||
   Hwy 103 west (Lighthouse Route) to Trunk 3 / Route 333 – Peggys Cove, Yarmouth, Dunbrack Street |
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| Dunbrack Street (Trunk 32) | Southbound exit only | |||||
| 5.1 | 3.2 | 2A | Lacewood Drive — Bayers Lake | |||
| 8.1 | 5.0 | 2 | Kearney Lake Road | |||
| 10.1 | 6.3 | 2B | Larry Uteck Boulevard | |||
| Bedford | 13.1 | 8.1 | 3 |  Hammonds Plains Road (Route 213) |
Northbound signed as exits 3A (east) and 3B (west) | |
   Trunk 1 east (Bedford Highway) to Trunk 2 / Trunk 7 – Dartmouth |
Exits 1G/1H on Hwy 101 | |||||
| 4B |  Hwy 101 / Trunk 1 west (Evangeline Trail) – Lower Sackville, Windsor |
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| 18.4 | 11.4 | 4C | Duke Street / Glendale Avenue | |||
| Fall River | 25.2 | 15.7 | 5 |  Trunk 2 / Route 318 – Waverley, Fall River, Wellington |
Northbound access to Hwy 118 | |
| 25.5 | 15.8 | — |    Hwy 118 south to Hwy 107 / Hwy 111 – Dartmouth, Halifax |
Southbound exit, northbound entrance | ||
| | 32.3 | 20.1 | 5A |  Route 212 (Aerotech Drive) |
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| 35.6 | 22.1 | 6 |  Halifax Stanfield International Airport |
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| Enfield | 41.0 | 25.5 | 7 | Trunk 2 – Enfield, Oakfield, Wellington |
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| Hants | Elmsdale | 47.9 | 29.8 | 8 |  Route 214 – Lantz, Windsor |
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| Milford | 58.2 | 36.2 | 9 |   Trunk 14 / Route 224 – Shubenacadie, Rawdon |
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| Shubenacadie | 65.2 | 40.5 | 10 |  Route 215 – Noel Shore, Maitland |
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| Colchester | Stewiacke | 71.1 | 44.2 | 11 | To Trunk 2 – Alton |
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| Brookfield | 84.4 | 52.4 | 12 |  Route 289 to Trunk 2 – Hilden, Upper Stewiacke |
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| Millbrook First Nation | 93.6 | 58.2 | 13A | Treaty Trail / Tower Road | ||
| Truro | 96.2 | 59.8 | 13 | To Trunk 2 / Truro Heights Connector Road |
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| 98.2 | 61.0 | 14 |  Trunk 2 south (Glooscap Trail) / Route 236 west (Robie Street) – Bible Hill, Lower Truro |
South end of Trunk 2 concurrency | ||
| Onslow | 99.6 | 61.9 | 14A |  Trunk 2 north (Glooscap Trail) / Route 311 / Trunk 4 – Tatamagouche, Masstown |
Northbound exit, southbound entrance; north end of Trunk 2 concurrency | |
| 100.8 | 62.6 | 15 | Hwy 104 (TCH) – Amherst, New Brunswick, New Glasgow, Cape Breton |
Signed as exits 15E (east) and 15W (west); exit 15 on Hwy 104 | ||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | ||||||
