Atlantic Gateway investments to benefit PEI economy, tourism and trade

BORDEN-CARLETON, Prince Edward Island – Today the Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of National Revenue, celebrated the 15th anniversary of the Confederation Bridge by announcing the completion of three components of the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) project at the bridge: a digital radio communication system, 511 travel information service, and lighting upgrades.

The Confederation Bridge is an important part of the Atlantic Gateway and investments in Gateway infrastructure create jobs, growth and prosperity in Atlantic Canada, said Minister Shea. Today we celebrate another positive step in the Government of Canada's commitment to the Atlantic Gateway that will benefit PEI, New Brunswick and the surrounding region.

The three components that have been completed to date as part of the Intelligent Transportation System project at the Confederation Bridge are a digital radio communication system, 511 travel information service, and lighting upgrades that will increase efficiency, safety and reliability for users of this critical transportation corridor. The digital radio communication system is a technology upgrade that replaces an analog system and greatly improves communication quality and reliability in operations and emergency response. With the 511 service, the Confederation Bridge is joining the communication corridor in Atlantic Canada that subscribes to this service, allowing motorists to obtain updates and real time traffic information on the bridge. The lighting upgrades replace existing bridge light fixtures with low-maintenance, weather-resistant and state-of-the-art LED fixtures.

The remaining project components of the ITS project on the Confederation Bridge include: toll plaza improvements, including transponder lane enhancements and electronic lane upgrades, improving the tolling service and speed of crossing for motorists and trucks on the bridge; dynamic messaging and signage improvements and the installation of an incident detection system; as well as the installation of computer assisted tiltmeters (bridge load monitoring technology) for the bridge monitoring system.

All projects will improve the overall efficiency of the bridge by improving traffic flow, increasing safety, monitoring bridge conditions, and speeding up alert time of accidents. The upgrades will benefit motorists by keeping them informed of traffic patterns. This will also enable bridge operators to quickly identify and respond to accidents on the bridge which furthers a key objective of the Atlantic Gateway and Trade Corridor Strategy: to advance a safe, secure, efficient and sustainable multimodal transportation system that contributes to the economic prosperity of the Atlantic provinces and Canada.

These technology retrofits and advancements are significant components of this strategic infrastructure in Atlantic Canada and are already yielding impressive results in travel safety management and in the reduction of our environmental footprint said Michel Le Chasseur, General Manager for Strait Crossing Bridge Limited, the company tasked with operating and maintaining the bridge.

The total cost for this project is $2.68 million and the Government of Canada will fund up to $1.34 million, half of the project cost.

For more information on Canada's Atlantic Gateway, please visit http://www.atlanticgateway.gc.ca