| Province: | NS |
| Type: | TCH |
| Route: | 104 |
| Alternate Name: | Miners Memorial Highway Trans-Canada Highway |
| Map Custom: | yes |
| Map Notes: | Highway 104 highlighted in red |
| Length Km: | 319.4 |
| Established: | 1964 |
| Direction A: | West |
| Direction B: | East |
| Section1: | Trans-Canada Highway segment |
| Length Km1: | 274.1 |
| Terminus A1: | at the New Brunswick border |
| Terminus B1: | at Port Hastings |
| Junction1: |
|
| Section2: | Cape Breton segment |
| Length Km2: | 37.3 |
| Terminus A2: | near Port Hawkesbury |
| Terminus B2: | near St. Peter's |
| Previous Type: | Hwy |
| Previous Route: | 103 |
| Next Type: | TCH |
| Next Route: | 105 |
Highway 104 in Nova Scotia, Canada, runs from Fort Lawrence at the New Brunswick border near Amherst to River Tillard near St. Peter's. Except for the portion on Cape Breton Island between Port Hawkesbury and St. Peter's, it forms the main route of the Trans-Canada Highway across the province.[1]
Highway 104 mostly supplants the former route of Trunk 4. In 1970, all sections of Trunk 4 west of New Glasgow were renumbered, although the number was added back in the Mount Thom and Wentworth Valley areas in the 1990s when new alignments of Highway 104 opened to traffic.
The provincial government named the highway the Miners Memorial Highway on 8 September 2008 one month before the 50th anniversary of the Springhill mining disaster of 23 October 1958.[2]
The highway's present alignment measures 319km (198miles) long, of which the western 180km (110miles) between the inter-provincial border with New Brunswick at Fort Lawrence through to Sutherlands River is a 4-lane divided freeway. The eastern 142km (88miles) from Sutherlands River to River Tillard is a mixture of 2-lane controlled access freeway known as a Super 2, uncontrolled access 2-lane highway, and 4-lane divided freeway sections.
Highway 104 is divided into two distinct sections; the Trans-Canada Highway section which runs from the New Brunswick border to Port Hastings, and a smaller section on Cape Breton Island between Port Hawkesbury and St. Peter's.[1]
From the inter-provincial border at Fort Lawrence, Highway 104 is a 4-lane divided freeway with posted speed limit of 110abbr=NaNabbr= and runs east for 48km (30miles) past the towns of Amherst and Oxford to Thomson Station. This section had been built in the 1960s as a Super 2 and was upgraded to a 4-lane divided freeway that opened in 1993. From Thomson Station the highway runs southeast for 45km (28miles) to Masstown, this segment is a tolled section known as the Cobequid Pass, which opened on 15 November 1997. From Masstown, the highway runs east and northeast for 140NaN0 to the rural community of Onslow, near Truro, and intersects Highway 102, the main 4-lane divided freeway connecting the Trans-Canada Highway with Halifax and southern Nova Scotia.
Highway 104 continues for 55km (34miles), past Westville, to Highway 106, a branch of the Trans-Canada Highway that connects to Prince Edward Island via ferry. The highway continues east for 40NaN0 to Stellarton and New Glasgow, with the highway passing through Stellarton; however, New Glasgow is located just to the north of the highway. The highway continues to Sutherlands River, where it reached the eastern extent of the 4-lane divided freeway until July 25, 2023.[1]
East of Sutherlands River, Highway 104 runs east for 17km (11miles) to Barney's River Station, and was built between 1964 and 1965 as a Super 2 and twinned between 2020 and 2023.[3] East of Barney's River Station, the highway runs east for 100NaN0 to James River as a 4-lane divided freeway, which opened to traffic on May 18, 2023.[4] This segment bypasses a 12adj=midNaNadj=mid 2-lane uncontrolled access highway segment, which was formerly part of and is now once again part of Trunk 4.[3] Past James River, the highway continues east for 120NaN0 to Addington Forks as a 4-lane divided freeway where the highway runs east for 110NaN0 to South River Road, along a new alignment of 4-lane divided freeway that opened on September 19, 2012. Prior to this new alignment opening, Highway 104 ran east on the present alignment of Trunk 4 and Post Road in the town of Antigonish and included three intersections controlled by traffic lights. The highway continues from South River Road as a 4-lane divided freeway, which opened October 22, 2016, for 70NaN0 to Dagger Woods.[5] Prior to this new alignment opening, this section was an uncontrolled access highway (formerly Trunk 4).[1]
From the end of the freeway section at Dagger Woods, the highway runs east for 4km (02miles) to Pomquet Forks as a Super 2 and remains as a controlled access highway, although there are several at-grade intersections. East of Pomquet Forks, the highway runs east for 30NaN0 to Heatherton as an uncontrolled access highway (formerly Trunk 4) and speed limit reduces 90abbr=NaNabbr=. Past Heatherton, the highway runs east for 29km (18miles) to Auld's Cove and speed limit increased back to 100km/h. At Auld's Cove, the highway becomes an uncontrolled access highway with a posted speed limit of 70abbr=NaNabbr= and begins a concurrency with Trunk 4. It crosses the Strait of Canso along the 1.4km (00.9miles) Canso Causeway to Port Hastings on Cape Breton Island. At Port Hastings, the highway intersects Trunk 4, Trunk 19 and Highway 105 at a roundabout where Highway 105 proceeds east carrying the Trans-Canada Highway designation.[1]
From the roundabout at Port Hastings, there is an 8km (05miles) gap in Highway 104 which is connected by Trunk 4, passing the town of Port Hawkesbury. The highway reappears at the Exit 43 interchange for Trunk 4 in Melville, just outside of Port Hawkesbury.[1] A Highway 104 bypass from Port Hastings to Melville has been proposed in the past. Concept designs have shown a new alignment of 4-lane freeway being built around the northwest side of Port Hastings, crossing Highway 105 at a new interchange near an electrical substation. The new alignment of Highway 104 would proceed east and then southeast approximately following a power line corridor to the Exit 43 interchange in Melville.
From Port Hawkesbury, the highway runs east as a controlled access Super 2 for 34km (21miles) to its current eastern terminus at an at-grade intersection with Trunk 4 in River Tillard, near St. Peters. An extension of Highway 104 from River Tillard to Sydney River has been proposed in the past. The Nova Scotia provincial government has designated the entire length of Highway 104 from Fort Lawrence to River Tillard as a "strategic highway" to qualify for federal cost-sharing of maintenance and future upgrades. This designation has also been applied to the remaining Trunk 4 corridor in Cape Breton along the south shore of Bras d'Or Lake from St. Peters to Sydney River. It is eventually envisioned that the Trans-Canada Highway will follow the entire length of Highway 104 from Amherst to Sydney River as a 4-lane freeway, upgraded from the existing two-lane freeway and uncontrolled access sections of the highway.[1]
Highway 104 was upgraded in various stages as follows:
The Province of Nova Scotia awarded the P3 contract that twinned a 38abbr=NaNabbr= section of Highway 104 between Sutherlands River and Antigonish to Dexter Nova Alliance.[6] As part the project, there was 28km (17miles) of existing highway upgraded and a 10km (10miles) new, realigned section; the bypassed section of Highway 104 between Barney's River Station and Marshy Hope reverted to being part of Trunk 4.[7] [8] Construction began in the spring of 2020, with a completion date of July 25, 2023.[6]
The province of Nova Scotia has proposed construction of a new 84-kilometre (52 mi) 2 lane arterial from the current end of Highway 104 at St. Peter's to Highway 125 at Sydney.[9] This highway would travel mostly east of the current Trunk 4 and open as a Super 2. It would serve as a bypass of Trunk 4 and likely take designation of the Trans Canada Highway rather than Highway 105. When completed, this would provide nearly continuous controlled access highway across Nova Scotia on the Trans Canada Highway. Construction costs are estimated to be approximately $500 million and tolls have been proposed in the past. This project is currently not on the province's 5-year highway plan.[10]