The Highway Through Nowhere

Today, class, we will present a Nova Scotia geography lesson.
If you look at a map of our province, you will notice that almost all of our cities and towns are located along the sea.
History will tell you that Nova Scotia was settled by people who arrived from the sea, the basis of our original transportation system, and that includes a series of navigable rivers and even canals.
The provincial roadmaps show that our major land routes follow the sea coasts:

-- Highway 101, from Halifax to Yarmouth, follows the contour of the Annapolis Valley, from Windsor to Digby, and the “French Shore" for the rest of the way.
-- Highway 102, from Halifax to Truro, however, is a completely “non-coastal” route.
-- Highway 103, from Halifax to Yarmouth, follows the South Shore region.
-- Highway 104, from Amherst, near the New Brunswick border, goes overland to Truro, and then hugs the northern shore, crosses to Cape Breton on the Canso Causeway, and follows the body of water called the Bras d'Or Lakes along the south.
-- Highway 105, from Port Hawkesbury to North Sydney, follows the Lakes on the North.
When it came to joining the towns on the south coast of mainland Nova Scotia with those on the north, road builders had a difficult time. Working across the “backbone” of the province, they had to deal with a rugged land area: lots of trees, swamps, lakes and rock formations.
However, from the early 1800s, through to the mid-1950s, they came up with a series of paved connector routes (from West to East):
-- Route 12, from Liverpool, through Caledonia, to Annapolis Royal.
-- Route 10, from Bridgewater to Middleton.
-- Route 8, from Chester to Windsor.
-- Route 7, from Dartmouth, east through Sheet Harbour, Sherbrooke, to Antigonish.
A number of shorter routes, identified by 3 digits, connect those and other roads.
Throughout our lives in Nova Scotia, we have traveled all of those roads and many other equally scenic routes.
However, a couple of weeks ago when we had a precious “free day,” we remembered one route that we had never taken … one that was paved and upgraded only a few decades ago: Route 374, from Sheet Harbour to Stellarton.
This highway -- along with many roads -- was the subject of much political intrigue and discussion because it was completed with the strong support of Hon. Elmer McKay, MP from Stellarton in Central Nova, and former minister in the Mulroney government in Ottawa.
Of course you are well aware, Dear Reader, that highways are a provincial, rather than a federal, responsibility, which explains the political “ramifications” of this highway project.
And so, on a pleasant and muggy summer afternoon, we drove east, along Highway 107 and then Route 7, 2 Sheet Harbour, and turned left to Route 374.
For the next hour or so, ALL WE SAW was the highway, and trees on both sides!
Even when we noticed such hamlets as Malay Falls and Locharbor on the road signs, there were only small intersections as we passed by.
Only once, we saw a convoy of two cars, huddled together in the southbound lane.
If there is any trucking in the area, carrying pulpwood to the north, or heavy marine machinery to the south, it was not operating that day.
The quality of the paved surface was a lesson in local municipal and provincial politics:
it started off smooth and well-maintained, in Halifax Regional Municipality, but kept deteriorating until we reached the western segment of Guysborough County, where a series of potholes containing water (although it hadn't rained!) made progress difficult. Then, as we crossed into Pictou County (with yet another set of highway priorities), the surface was much better, right up to Hopewell, Vaughan and then our destination, Stellarton.
Although our trip was a pleasant way to spend a summer afternoon, our discussion during supper was rather quiet, as we had quickly exhausted all our adjectives in describing what had just happened.
It appears, Dear Reader, that we have been able to check-off one more item in our touring "Bucket List.”