Bell tolls for toll plazas on Fredericton-Moncton highway

FREDERICTON (July 7, 2000) – After building the new four-lane highway between Fredericton and Moncton, Maritime Road Development Corp. is now looking for a contractor to tear down the tollbooths.

The Maritime builders are obligated to demolish the eight tollbooths and two plaza buildings as part of its deal with the provincial government, which earlier this year upheld an election promise to remove the tolls. Demolition, which is expected to cost $2 million, is scheduled to begin next month.

Several of the buildings were constructed after the new Progressive Conservative government won the election last June. The province decided to let the company continue to build the remaining structures, saying that halting construction would have meant a change to the highway contract, which would have left the province open to lawsuits.

After the buildings are destroyed, construction crews will reconfigure the roadway approaching the tollbooths from one lane into two in each direction.