| Route Transcanadienne | ||||
| Trans-Canada Highway Highway of Heroes[1] | ||||
Route 2 highlighted in red. | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained byNew Brunswick Department of Transportation | ||||
| Length | 515 km[2] (320 mi) | |||
| Existed | 1927[3]–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end | ||||
| Major intersections | ||||
| East end | ||||
| Location | ||||
| Country | Canada | |||
| Province | New Brunswick | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
Route 2 is a majorprovincial highway in theCanadian province ofNew Brunswick, carrying the main route of theTrans-Canada Highway in the province. The highway connects withAutoroute 85 at the border withQuebec,Highway 104 at the border withNova Scotia, as well as with traffic fromInterstate 95 in theU.S. state ofMaine via the shortRoute 95 connector. A core route in theNational Highway System, Route 2 is a four-lane freeway in its entirety, and directly serves the cities ofEdmundston,Fredericton, andMoncton.
A 20-year project to replace the original 1960s-era two-lane Trans-Canada Highway with a four-lane freeway was completed on November 1, 2007. The final upgrade to Route 2 and Route 95 extended the continuous freeway network of North America east toNew Glasgow, Nova Scotia. OnceAutoroute 85 in Quebec is completed, Route 2 will also connect with the freeway networks ofCentral Canada without passing through the United States.

As a provincial portion of the Trans-Canada, the highway's western terminus is at the interprovincial boundary with Quebec 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) northwest of Edmundston. It follows the lower section of theMadawaska River valley and enters theSaint John River valley where it passes north of Edmundston, running several kilometres inland from the east bank of the Saint John River, crossing the Rivière Verte as it continues pastSaint-Léonard.
AtGrand Falls, the highway crosses to the west bank of the river and passes byPerth-Andover,Florenceville, andHartland. AtWoodstock, the Saint John River turns east and the highway continues to parallel the river on a ridge several kilometres inland along the western bank. It passes south of New Brunswick's capital,Fredericton, andOromocto before crossing the northeastern edge ofCFB Gagetown.
The Saint John River turns south nearJemseg where the highway crosses the river on theSaint John River High Level Crossing and continues east over theJemseg River using theJemseg River Bridge.
The highway leaves the river valleys as it continues east across the rolling hills south ofGrand Lake and passes byHavelock,River Glade andSalisbury.
The highway passes north and east of the province's largest city,Moncton, andDieppe before turning south and passing byMemramcook,Sackville, andAulac before reaching the eastern terminus at the interprovincial boundary withNova Scotia at theMissaguash River.

Route 2 was once part of an interprovincial "Highway 2" running fromWindsor,Ontario toHalifax, Nova Scotia. It was one of the initial routes defined in 1927,[3] running from Quebec as a continuation ofQuebec Route 2 viaEdmundston,Grand Falls,Woodstock,Fredericton,Saint John, andMoncton, After a short crossing of theNew Brunswick Panhandle alongside theMadawaska River to Edmundston, Route 2 closely followed theSaint John River all the way to Saint John, crossing three times - from the east to the west at Grand Falls, back to the east atPerth-Andover, and back to the west atHartland (on theHartland Covered Bridge). The road on the east side of the river between Edmundston and Grand Falls had just been opened in about 1926; previously travelers had to pass throughMaine (US 1,SR 165, and Boundary Road) on the west side. ARoute 2A cut the distance between Fredericton and Saint John via a poorer-quality but more direct road, intersecting Route 2 atOromocto andWestfield. Beyond Saint John, Route 2 went northeast viaSussex to Moncton, and then turned southeast to cross the Nova Scotia border nearAulac and continue asNova Scotia Trunk 2.[4][5][6] The original course through Aulac to the Nova Scotia border is now bypassed, with the old interprovincial bridge over the Missaguash River now demolished. The original route between Quebec and Sussex is now approximately theRiver Valley Scenic Drive.[7]

When the route of theTrans-Canada Highway was defined in about 1950, it did not follow Route 2 via Saint John between Fredericton and Sussex, but took the more direct Route 9.[10] Through the late 1950s and 1960s, a number of bypasses and realignments, mostly two-lane, were built to improve Route 2 with federal Trans-Canada Highway funds. The first, built in the 1950s, was around Moncton, between southwest ofSalisbury andSackville.[citation needed] The old road through Moncton becameRoute 2A, thenRoute 6 in 1965, and is nowRoute 106.[11]
Next was the bypass aroundWoodstock. The road fromRoute 42 (nowRoute 560) atJacksonville northeast to Route 2 (nowRoute 103) atSomerville wasRoute 2B by the late 1950s;[12] with the 1960 completion[citation needed] of theHugh John Flemming Bridge, just upstream from theHartland Covered Bridge, and the extension of Route 2B south from Jacksonville to Route 2 (nowRoute 165) south of Woodstock, Route 2B became a realignment of Route 2, with old Route 2 through Woodstock becoming Route 2A (renumberedRoute 103 in 1965).[11]
The initial bypass ofFredericton was also built in about 1960, including the 1959[citation needed]Princess Margaret Bridge across the Saint John River, which replaced theCarleton Street Bridge for traffic toRoute 8, 9, andRoute 10. Traffic remaining on Route 2 toSaint John exited the bypass at what is now exit 7 forRoute 7.
Route 2 was moved to beconcurrent with the Trans-Canada Highway, absorbing Route 9, in the 1965 renumbering of several New Brunswick highways. The old alignment via Saint John, where it did not becomeRoute 7 (which replaced Route 2A) or an extension ofRoute 1, was renumbered as the newRoute 102 betweenOromocto andWestfield.[11]
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The majority of road development in New Brunswick follows settlement patterns which pre-dated motor transport, thus most communities developed along navigable waterways or were served byrailways. The development of controlled accessexpressways only began in the 1960s and only around the largest communities. The majority of early provincial highway improvements merely consisted of upgrading local roads.
Route 2 initially followed present-dayRoute 144 from the N.B.-Quebec interprovincial boundary to Edmundston and down the Saint John River Valley to Grand Falls. There, it crossed to the west bank of the Saint John River, and continued south to Florenceville where it crossed to the east bank to continue along present-dayRoute 130 to Hartland, then recrossed the river to the west bank which it followed present-day Routes 590, 165, and 102 to Fredericton in a southeast direction.
At Fredericton a controlled-access 4-lane section was built around the city, and the highway crossed the Saint John River on thePrincess Margaret Bridge to the east bank just south of the central business district. Following the river's east bank just metres above its water level (frequently flooded in springfreshets), the route continued south toJemseg where the highway turned east along the southeast shore of Grand Lake toYoungs Cove Road where the highway turned south toColes Island and on toSussex.
At Sussex, the highway turned east again and passed byThree Rivers and then by Salisbury. East of Salisbury, Route 2 followed local roads over a series of low hills north of Moncton, cresting atLutes Mountain, before descending and following a controlled access section bypassing the city and Dieppe, skirting the edge of theMemramcook River valley and on to Sackville, then Aulac, and finally the N.B.-N.S. inter-provincial boundary.

From the early upgrades of these local roads in the 1960s under Trans-Canada Highway funding (which became designated Route 2) until the mid-1980s, very little was done to improve New Brunswick highways (aside from some re-alignment of Route 2 west of Fredericton with the flooding created by theMactaquac Dam construction in 1968), leading to significant deterioration of the Trans-Canada Highway in New Brunswick. By the mid-1980s Route 2 was a significant traffic hazard and a major embarrassment to the province.[citation needed]
The provincial government changed in 1987 with the election of PremierFrank McKenna who was focused on improving the province's business climate. One of the government's major tasks was to revamp provincial transportation infrastructure and McKenna entered into aggressive negotiations with the federal government of prime ministerBrian Mulroney to secure federal funding of new highway projects. McKenna viewed Route 2 (the Trans-Canada Highway) and Route 1 in New Brunswick as being partially a federal responsibility since they funnelled the majority ofAtlantic Canada's highway traffic to the U.S. and central Canada. The signing of theCanada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement in 1989, coupled with federal approval for numerous railway line abandonments in the Maritimes during the 1980s, led to predictions of further highway traffic growth on New Brunswick highways in the 1990s.
Under the remainder of the McKenna administration's years of power (until 1997), Route 2 saw significant upgrading to become a 4-laneexpressway on heavily-travelled portions of the highway between the N.B.-N.S. inter-provincial boundary andPenobsquis (east of Sussex). Other isolated sections were also upgraded south of Grand Lake and between Edmundston and St. Leonard, as well as at Woodstock where an interchange connected toInterstate 95.
Despite the upgrades, the uncontrolled-access sections of Route 2 were still a significant traffic hazard. Intensive lobbying from other provincial governments in the Atlantic provinces, as well as various trucking companies and business and transportation interests, asked that Route 2 be further upgraded. Unfortunately provincial finances could not handle the relatively large price tag required, even with the federal funding at the time.
As a result, the final years of the McKenna administration saw a significant realignment of Route 2 proposed, running fromLongs Creek, west of Fredericton, bypassing it and Oromocto to the west, and continuing southeast to Jemseg, where it would cross theSaint John River and connect with an existing four-lane section south of Grand Lake. From there the highway would again depart from its original alignment (which headed south to Sussex) and instead head due east to meet the existing Route 2 alignment atRiver Glade, east ofThree Rivers.
225 kilometres (140 mi) of new, four-lane, controlled-accessexpressway would be privately financed and built, with the builder chargingtolls for a 25-year period before the provincial government would gain control of the highway. In the late 1990s, an agreement was signed with a private consortium calledMaritime Road Development Corporation (led by former provincialLiberal leader and former federal Minister of TransportDouglas Young) to build the new Route 2 alignment at an estimated cost of $1 billion (CAD).
The toll issue was not without controversy as it, along with several other issues, led to the downfall of McKenna's successor,Camille Thériault, in 1999 toPC leaderBernard Lord. The highway was built, but tolls were removed from most portions of the highway before they opened. This portion of the privately built realignment of the Trans-Canada Highway has a hidden toll calculated by sensors in the pavement. The toll is instead charged to the provincial government, thus motorists do not directly pay for their highway usage. Along with a payment worth millions of dollars to get out of the original contract, the provincial government now makes all provincial taxpayers cover the cost of the highway when the original plan had been for a user-pay system under a toll structure.
The new alignment of the Trans-Canada Highway opened in fall 2001 and at this time the portion of the old Route 2 alignment which ran between Sussex and River Glade was re-designated as part ofRoute 1, extending the eastern terminus of that highway approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi). The re-alignment also had the effect of shortening the total length of Route 2 in the province by approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi). Other re-designations included a 44-kilometre (27 mi) section betweenYoungs Cove and Sussex which became part ofRoute 10, a 73-kilometre (45 mi) section between Youngs Cove and Fredericton became part of Route 105, and a 10-kilometre (6.2 mi) section across the Princess Margaret Bridge and Fredericton bypass became part ofRoute 8.
The re-alignment and construction of Route 2 between Longs Creek and River Glade catapulted New Brunswick highways forward by decades virtually overnight. The road was designed with 150-metre (500 ft) medians, extensive wildlife fencing and underpasses, rumble strips along emergency breakdown lanes, paved emergency U-turn areas, sensors beneath the asphalt for monitoring truck weights as well as local weather and road surface conditions, extensive guard rails and reflectors, as well as two major bridges: theSaint John River High Level Crossing and the nearbyJemseg River Bridge.
With the completion of the new alignment, it was now possible to travel from Fredericton into Nova Scotia (and on toHalifax orNew Glasgow) completely on a four-lane controlled access highway.
The Fredericton–Moncton section was officially opened to traffic at 10am on October 24, 2001, five weeks ahead of schedule.
The high quality of construction of the new Route 2 alignment and improvement in the provincial highway system was not unnoticed by the new government of premier Bernard Lord. Throughout 2000–2003, several small four-lane controlled access sections on Route 2 between Fredericton and Edmundston were opened, most requiring construction of a new alignment.
During this same period, negotiations were undertaken with the federal government to secure funding to complete the last, and one of the most costly parts of the new construction—a 98-kilometre (61 mi) gap between Woodstock and Grand Falls over theAppalachian Mountains (bypassing present-day Routes165,103 and130), and a 30-kilometre (19 mi) gap between Longs Creek andPokiok (bypassing present-dayRoute 102), west of Fredericton.
In August, 2003 a joint announcement was made by Premier Lord and Prime MinisterJean Chrétien for a $400 million (CAD) agreement to complete upgrades to the last remaining non-controlled access section of Route 2.
The Pokiok-Longs Creek section had been independently contracted by the provincial government and opened in November 2006.[13] However, the provincial government sought to construct the remaining 98-kilometre (61 mi) gap as part of a complete "design-build-finance-operate-maintain-rehabilitate" plan which would see large private sector consortia bid for the right to design and construct the 98 kilometres of new highway for Route 2, as well as to operate the entire 275-kilometre (171 mi) section of Route 2 between Longs Creek, where it abuts the 230-kilometre (140 mi) hidden-toll highway section built and operated by Maritime Road Development Corporation, and the Quebec–New Brunswick border as well as all of Route 95.
The winning consortium wasBrun-Way Group, a joint venture byAtcon Construction andSNC-Lavalin. Brun-Way Group has two subsidiaries, Brun-Way Construction Inc., which received the ~$540 million to complete the 98 km of new construction as well as selected upgrades to other sections of Route 2 between Longs Creek and the Quebec border, and Brun-Way Highway Operations Inc., which will receive an annual payment from the government of New Brunswick until 2033 to operate and maintain this section of the highway. This agreement will place fully 85% of the maintenance of Route 2 and 100% of Route 95 in the hands of the consortia Brun-Way and MRDC.
The construction of the last segment of four-lane Route 2 was completed by Brun-Way on November 1, 2007. This construction saw a completely new alignment built north of Woodstock, staying several kilometres inland from the Saint John River's west bank, and paralleling theCanada–United States border north to Grand Falls, where it crosses to the east bank of the river and connects with existing four-lane upgrades to Route 2 through to the Quebec boundary. In addition to upgrades to Route 2, Brun-Way is also contracted to perform similar upgrades toRoute 95, a short connecting route between the Trans-Canada Highway at Woodstock and the Canada U.S. border atHoulton where it meetsInterstate 95.
Upon the opening of this section to traffic on November 1, 2007, the entire length of Route 2 and Route 95 are four-lane, controlled-access, dividedfreeways with a posted speed limit of 110 km/h (70 mph) and a design speed of up to 120 km/h (75 mph).
On August 12, 2012, Highway 2 was officially named "Highway of Heroes" byPremierDavid Alward.
| County | Location | km | mi | Old exit[14] | New exit[15][16] | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madawaska | | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | — | Continuation intoQuebec | |
| 1.0 | 0.62 | 1[17] | Madawaska Avenue | Eastbound exit and entrance; westbound access from exit onA-85 | |||
| Edmundston | 8.9 | 5.5 | 8 | 8 | Western terminus of Route 144 | ||
| 13.3 | 8.3 | 15 | 13 | Signed as exits 13A (west) and 13B (east) | |||
| 15.0 | 9.3 | Crosses theMadawaska River | |||||
| 15.7– 16.7 | 9.8– 10.4 | 16 | Carrier Street, Victoria Street | ||||
| 18.3 | 11.4 | 18 | 18 | ||||
| 19.2 | 11.9 | 19[18] | Gray Rock Road | ||||
| 21.7 | 13.5 | 21 | 21 | ||||
| 26.7 | 16.6 | 26 | 26 | ||||
| Riviere-Verte | 32.9 | 20.4 | 32 | 32 | |||
| Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska | 46.7 | 29.0 | 46 | 46 | |||
| Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes | 51.1 | 31.8 | 51 | 51 | |||
| Saint-Léonard | 56.8 | 35.3 | 56 | 56 | |||
| 58.9 | 36.6 | 58 | 58 | ||||
| 69.0 | 42.9 | 69 | Bourgoin Road –Rang-des-Bourgoin,Martin Siding | ||||
| Victoria | Grand Falls | 75.1 | 46.7 | 75 | Western terminus of Route 108, southern terminus of Route 255 | ||
| 77.0 | 47.8 | 75[19] | 77 | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | |||
| 77.5– 77.8 | 48.2– 48.3 | Crosses theSaint John River | |||||
| 78.7– 80.1 | 48.9– 49.8 | 78[19] | 79 | ||||
| Grand Falls Portage | 82.4 | 51.2 | 83 | Northbound exit and entrance | |||
| Argosy | 88.0 | 54.7 | 88 | ||||
| | 99.0 | 61.5 | 99 | ||||
| Aroostook | 106.5 | 66.2 | Crosses theAroostook River | ||||
| 107.3 | 66.7 | 107 | |||||
| Perth-Andover | 114.5– 116.0 | 71.1– 72.1 | 112[19] | 115 | |||
| Carleton | Florenceville | 153.3 | 95.3 | 153 | 153 | ||
| Waterville | 171.7 | 106.7 | 172 | Southern terminus of Route 130 | |||
| Jacksonville | 183.0– 183.9 | 113.7– 114.3 | 184 | ||||
| Woodstock | 185.4 | 115.2 | 188 | 185 | |||
| 187.1– 188.0 | 116.3– 116.8 | 191A | 187 | Eastern terminus of Route 95 | |||
| 188.5 | 117.1 | 191B | 188 | Southern terminus of Route 103, eastern terminus of Route 555 | |||
| 191.4 | 118.9 | 194 | 191 | Beardsley Road | Durham Bridge | ||
| 194.0 | 120.5 | 194 | Hodgdon Road –Woodstock First Nation | ||||
| Hay Settlement | 201.2 | 125.0 | 200 | ||||
| York | Lakeland Ridges | 212.1 | 131.8 | 212[19] | 212 | Eastern terminus of Route 122, southern terminus of Route 165 | |
| 221.0– 222.8 | 137.3– 138.4 | 223 | Charlie Lake Road –Temple | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | |||
| Pokiok | 230.6 | 143.3 | 231 | Northern terminus of Route 102 | |||
| Lake George | 253.2 | 157.3 | 253 | 253 | |||
| Kingsclear | 258.2 | 160.4 | 258 | 258 | |||
| Mazerolle Settlement | 271.3 | 168.6 | 271 | 271 | |||
| Fredericton | 280.0 | 174.0 | 280 | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; southern terminus of Route 8 | |||
| 280.8– 281.7 | 174.5– 175.0 | 281 | |||||
| 285.1– 286.1 | 177.2– 177.8 | 285 | 285 | Signed as exits 285A (south) and 285B (north) | |||
| Sunbury | Lincoln | 291.9– 294.3 | 181.4– 182.9 | 294 | Western end of concurrency with Route 7; westboound exit and eastbound entrance | ||
| Rusagonis-Waasis | 296.5 | 184.2 | 11 | 297 | Nevers Road –Rusagonis-Waasis,Lincoln | ||
| Oromocto | 300.7 | 186.8 | 15 | 301 | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance | ||
| 302.8 | 188.2 | 303 | 303 | ||||
| 305.1– 306.2 | 189.6– 190.3 | 306 | Eastern end of concurrency with Route 7; no westbound exit | ||||
| Queens | Arcadia | 329.3 | 204.6 | 330 | |||
| 331.5– 332.5 | 206.0– 206.6 | Saint John River High Level Crossing crosses theSaint John River | |||||
| 332.5– 333.6 | 206.6– 207.3 | 333 | No westbound entrance, northern terminus of Route 105 (southern segment) | ||||
| Jemseg | 338.0 | 210.0 | Jemseg River Bridge crosses theJemseg River | ||||
| 339.0 | 210.6 | 343 | 339 | ||||
| Mill Cove | 347.4 | 215.9 | 347 | ||||
| Youngs Cove | 365.1 | 226.9 | 365 | ||||
| | 372.2 | 231.3 | Crosses theCanaan River | ||||
| Westmorland | Salisbury | 413.4– 414.9 | 256.9– 257.8 | 414 | |||
| 422.7– 424.9 | 262.7– 264.0 | 423 | Eastern terminus of Route 1 | ||||
| 432.8 | 268.9 | 470 | 433 | ||||
| Moncton | 445.2– 446.1 | 276.6– 277.2 | 482 | 446 | |||
| 450.0– 450.8 | 279.6– 280.1 | 488 | 450 | ||||
| 452.1 | 280.9 | 490 | 452 | Gorge Road | |||
| 454.3 | 282.3 | 492 | 454 | Mapleton Road –Mapleton | |||
| 458.5– 459.6 | 284.9– 285.6 | 496 | 459 | Signed as exits 459A (south) and 459B (north) | |||
| 462.4 | 287.3 | 500 | 462 | Caledonia | |||
| 464.8 | 288.8 | 502 | 465 | ||||
| Dieppe | 465.8– 467.2 | 289.4– 290.3 | 504 | 467 | Signed as exits 467A (south/west) and 467B (north/east) | ||
| 473.4 | 294.2 | 511 | 474 | Signed as exits 474A (south) and 474B (north) | |||
| Memramcook | 479.5 | 297.9 | 517 | 480 | Old Shediac Road –Calhoun | ||
| 482.0 | 299.5 | 519 | 482 | ||||
| 486.8 | 302.5 | 524 | 488 | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; southern terminus of Route 933 | |||
| 488.1 | 303.3 | 524 | 488 | Memramcook-Est Road | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance | ||
| Sackville | 498.9– 500.2 | 310.0– 310.8 | 538 | 500 | Walker Road | ||
| 503.7 | 313.0 | 541 | 504 | ||||
| 505.9 | 314.4 | 544 | 506 | Eastern terminus of Route 106 | |||
| 508.9 | 316.2 | Coles Island Road | Unsigned; westbound exit and entrance | ||||
| | 512.0– 512.9 | 318.1– 318.7 | 550 | 513 | Signed as exits 513A (Aulac) and 513B (Route 16) | ||
| Missaguash River | 514.7 | 319.8 | Missaguash River Bridge | ||||
| — | — | Continuation intoNova Scotia | |||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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