Nova Scotia considers ending Cobequid Pass tolls for cars but not trucks

Bonds for the Cobequid Pass in Nova Scotia are nearly paid off, which means tolls will be eliminated for motorists sometime in 2019. Well, maybe not all motorists. Nova Scotia’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal is considering keeping tolls indefinitely for truckers and non-Nova Scotia residents.

In 1995, Nova Scotia passed the Highway 104 Western Alignment Act, which established the Highway 104 Western Alignment Corp., a public-private partnership. According to the act, “tolls shall cease to be imposed or collected in respect of the Western Alignment when all costs and liabilities … have been paid.” That time is expected to come around next year, well ahead of the 2026 projection.

Once tolls are eliminated, where will money for maintenance come from? That is the question the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal is exploring.

During a Public Accounts Committee proceeding on Jan. 17, Peter Hackett, president of the Highway 104 Western Alignment Corp., told the committee there is no estimated date when tolls will be eliminated. Hackett pointed out that the Highway 104 Act includes a section allowing tolls to continue after bonds have been paid for any additional costs, such as maintenance.

Paul LaFleche, Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal deputy minister, mentioned that tolls will be relieved when the debt is paid off for Nova Scotia motorists. The department is trying to define “Nova Scotia motorists.”

When asked when tolls will be removed and for who, Diane Saurette, executive director of finance for the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal, said Nova Scotia motorists will be relieved of tolls as soon as fiscal year 2019-20.

“All other motorists – trucks and out-of-province – no decision has been made on that,” Saurette said.

Saurette pointed out that “motorists” is defined as “cars,” leaving truck drivers in the province wide open for tolls after the debt has been paid. LaFleche reiterated that the exact definition of “motorists” is still unknown, leaving the issue of who will continue to pay tolls in limbo until “motorists” is well defined.

“We cannot answer yet one way or the other, whether an 18-wheeler owned by Galen Weston Corp. coming from Brampton, Ontario, will have to pay tolls or not, but we will know within about a year,” LaFleche said.

The Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association is not on board for a truck-only toll. APTA Executive Director Jean-Marc Picard said that truckers should not be penalized since they provide a service to Nova Scotia residents by delivering products and paying diesel and carbon taxes.

“There is no rationale to keep tolls for commercial trucks only,” Picard said in a statement. “The trucking industry has contributed over 50 percent of the revenues generated from these tolls since they have been in place, therefore, we should be treated like every motorist if tolls are removed.”