Residents raise concerns about speeding along Cape Breton’s Route 4

Residents along Cape Breton's Route 4 joined a community meeting this week to share their concerns about speeding on the highway. (Ryan MacDonald/CTV News)

A nearly full house turned out at the fire hall in Big Pond, N.S., on Thursday as people came out to voice their concerns about speeding on Cape Breton’s Route 4.

“Every day, I think somebody is going to be killed,” said Tim Roach, one of the residents who lives along the provincial highway who attended the community meeting.

The mostly two-lane road along the Bras d’or Lake stretches from Port Hawkesbury, N.S., to Sydney River, N.S., and contains many twists and turns.

Along much of the highway the speed limit is 80 kilometres an hour.

“I’m in my eighteenth year of policing,” said Cpl. Gary McLaughlin of the Nova Scotia RCMP. “This area, specifically the Highway 4 corridor, is one of the biggest speeding corridors that I’ve worked, and I’ve worked all over Canada.”

McLaughlin said the average person stopped for speeding along Route 4 is driving about 120 km/h.

“These aren’t drivers that are doing 20 over, even 30 over,” he said. “We’re getting tremendous speeds. I had a file just a couple of weeks ago at 185 kilometers an hour.”

McLaughlin added that the RCMP have handed out more than 1500 speeding tickets along Route 4 in the past year.

However, people who live along the highway said they are only getting more concerned for their own safety.

“Walking on the road, which was one of my favourite things to do, I’m afraid to go for the mail,” Roach said.

One stretch of road in Big Pond, where the speed limit is 60 km/h, has a flashing sign telling drivers how fast they are travelling.

Some residents suggested the installation of more of those warning signs elsewhere along Route 4.

Others talked about issues like tailgating and dangerous passing, problems some suggested can stem from other vehicles driving too slowly.

“I’ve seen lots of death on this road over the years, and I’ve seen bad stuff,” said Chief Danny Thomas of the Big Pond Volunteer Fire Department. “I’ve seen stuff where people never should have came out of it, they came out of it. It’s not good.”

Cape Breton Regional Municipality councillor Steve Parsons, who represents the area and helped organize the public meeting, told those assembled that given Route 4 is a provincial road one of the next steps is to take the residents and first responders concerns to the Nova Scotia government.

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