Keep Calm and Drive On

An Amazing feat!  

     The Confederation Bridge joins the eastern Canadian provinces of Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, making travel throughout the Maritimes easy and convenient. The curved, 12.9 kilometre (8 mile) bridge is the longest in the world crossing ice-covered water, and continues to endure as one of Canada's top engineering achievements of the 20th century.

     The decision to replace the existing ferry service with a fixed link followed a heated debate throughout the 1980s. Farmers, fishermen, tourism operators and residents of Prince Edward Island had sharply contrasting opinions about how year-round access to the mainland would affect their way of life and livelihood. Eventually, it was decided that the debate would be settled at the polls. The federal department of Public Works and Government Services selected its favourite bridge design out of several proposals from the private sector and on January 18, 1988, Premier Joseph Ghiz asked Prince Edward Islanders to make the final decision in a plebiscite. At the polls, 59.4% of Islanders voted "Yes" to a fixed link.

     After four years of construction using crews of more that five thousand local workers, the Confederation Bridge opened to traffic on May 31, 1997.

Going through the toll booth.

     In a strategic move to enhance tourism, the government decided to only charge a toll upon leaving the island.  This also affects the remaining ferry service from Caribou, Nova Scotia to Wood Islands, PEI (which we used to get here).  It's probably the only ferry you can ride for free (one-way) but the fare to travel back to Nova Scotia is much more expensive than to leave the province via the Confederation bridge.

2017 Toll Rates & Fees

Vehicles

• First 2 Axles - $46.50
• Each Additional Axle - $8.00
• Motorcycle - $18.50

Shuttle Service

• Pedestrian - $4.25
• Cyclist - $8.75

Pedestrian/Cyclist Baggage 

• Free First  Bag - Free
• Each Additional Bag - $4.00

Other

• Apprehensive Driver - $40.00
• Out of Gas - $100.00
• Wide Load requiring lane closure - $200.00

     The category that intrigued me the most was the "apprehensive driver". What classifies an apprehensive driver? Well, apparently it is anyone who is basically afraid to drive across the bridge. You pay to have someone drive your vehicle across the bridge for you. My first thought was, if you are so afraid then you should have crossed by ferry further up the coast.

     There are signs all along the road leading up to the bridge on both the New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island sides telling drivers that the bridge is a toll bridge and payment is made upon leaving the province of PEI. This summer there was quite an uproar at the toll booth on the PEI side when the RCMP had to be called to settle a dispute. It must have been a slow news day because it was big news. Apparently, an Ontario driver refused to pay the toll upon leaving the province. He claimed that he was unaware of the toll. Obviously, he missed all the large signs informing of it when he arrived. You would have thought that the Ontario driver would be used to toll roads/bridges since Ontario has 13. All are toll bridges except for Hwys. 407 and 412 which are major highways. Anyway,  the RCMP came, a discussion occurred, the toll was paid and off the driver went, hopefully back to Ontario.

After paying your fee to leave the province and heading to the bridge proper

Vehicles coming into the province from the bridge

The bridge has only two lanes with  narrow side lanes for pedestrians and bikes.
There are signs, lights, phones and electric speed signs all along the bridge.

Looking up to the horizon

See the elevated section in the bridge? This allows boats to pass underneath.  Notice the curve in the bridge as well.

Coming up to the the highest part.

The end is near

On New Brunswick soil

Looking back at the bridge

Up...

Up to the rise in the bridge

Down the other side. Looking at the island

Back in PEI

     What an amazing feat... to have built a 12.9 km long bridge connecting a small province to mainland Canada. There is no need for fear and apprehension while crossing the bridge.

     In speaking with Islanders, we have asked them what difference the bridge made to the culture of the Island.  The typical answer is "not much".  The main thing they point out is that it increased tourism, which has been good for the economy.