A recommendation put forth by the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA), as part of the National Supply Chain Task Force initiative launched earlier this year, was to complete the twinning of Highway 185 that serves as the primary highway connection between the provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec.

“Hwy 185 is critical artery to the Central and Eastern Canadian supply chains. CTA would like to see the project expedited in light of it being included in one of the National Supply Chain Task Force Report’s key and more immediate recommendations,” said Geoff Wood, CTA’s Sr VP Policy.

According to the National Supply chain Task Force Report, funding has been set aside to address the twinning of the highway. Once completed, this project will bring tremendous benefit and efficiencies to the Eastern Canadian supply chain and allow long combination vehicles (LCVs) to travel uninhibited between the Port of Halifax and Windsor Ont.

The current configuration of the highway presents operational challenges as LCVs must be disassembled and reassembled to transit a short distance on the highway that has not been twinned and approved for LCV operations.

“We applaud Minister Alghabra and the National Supply Chain Taskforce team for their focus on this issue. Let’s make the Highway 185 project a regional priority for Canadians to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our domestic and international supply chains that move goods over the road between the Atlantic Provinces, Quebec and Ontario,” Wood said.