Highway 104 in Nova Scotia, Canada, runs from Fort Lawrence at the New Brunswick border near Amherst to River Tillard near St. Peter's. Except for the portion on Cape Breton Island between Port Hawkesbury and St. Peter's, it forms the main route of the Trans-Canada Highway across the province.
Highway 104 mostly supplants the former route of Trunk 4. In 1970, all sections of Trunk 4 west of New Glasgow were renumbered, although the number was added back in the Mount Thom and Wentworth Valley areas in the 1990s when new alignments of Highway 104 opened to traffic.
The provincial government named the highway the Miners Memorial Highway on 8 September 2008 one month before the 50th anniversary of the Springhill mining disaster of 23 October 1958.
Route description
The highway's present alignment measures long, of which the western between the inter-provincial border with New Brunswick at Fort Lawrence through to Sutherlands River is a 4-lane divided freeway. The eastern from Sutherlands River to River Tillard is a mixture of 2-lane controlled access freeway known as a Super 2, uncontrolled access 2-lane highway, and 4-lane divided freeway sections.
Highway 104 is divided into two distinct sections; the Trans-Canada Highway section which runs from the New Brunswick border to Port Hastings, and a smaller section on Cape Breton Island between Port Hawkesbury and St. Peter's.
Trans Canada Highway
From the inter-provincial border at Fort Lawrence, Highway 104 is a 4-lane divided freeway with posted speed limit of and runs east for past the towns of Amherst and Oxford to Thomson Station. This section had been built in the 1960s as a Super 2 and was upgraded to a 4-lane divided freeway that opened in 1993. From Thomson Station the highway runs southeast for to Masstown, this segment is a tolled section known as the Cobequid Pass, which opened on 15 November 1997. From Masstown, the highway runs east and northeast for to the rural community of Onslow, near Truro, and intersects Highway 102, the main 4-lane divided freeway connecting the Trans-Canada Highway with Halifax and southern Nova Scotia.
Highway 104 continues for , past Westville, to Highway 106, a branch of the Trans-Canada Highway that connects to Prince Edward Island via ferry. The highway continues east for to Stellarton and New Glasgow, with the highway passing through Stellarton; however, New Glasgow is located just to the north of the highway. The highway continues to Sutherlands River, where it reaches the eastern extent of the end of the 4-lane divided freeway.
East of Sutherlands River, Highway 104 becomes a Super 2 with a posted speed limit of . The highway runs east for to Barney's River Station, and was built between 1964 and 1965 as a Super 2 and remains as a controlled access highway with dedicated passing lanes. East of Barney's River Station, the highway runs east for to James River as a 4-lane divided freeway, which opened to traffic on May 18, 2023. This segment bypasses a 2-lane uncontrolled access highway segment, which was formerly part of and is now once again part of Trunk 4. Past James River, the highway continues east for to Addington Forks as a 4-lane divided freeway where the highway runs east for to South River Road, along a new alignment of 4-lane divided freeway that opened on September 19, 2012. Prior to this new alignment opening, Highway 104 ran east on the present alignment of Trunk 4 and Post Road in the town of Antigonish and included three intersections controlled by traffic lights. The highway continues from South River Road as a 4-lane divided freeway, which opened October 22, 2016, for to Dagger Woods. Prior to this new alignment opening, this section was an uncontrolled access highway (formerly Trunk 4).
From the end of the freeway section at Dagger Woods, the highway runs east for to Pomquet Forks as a Super 2 and remains as a controlled access highway, although there are several at-grade intersections. East of Pomquet Forks, the highway runs east for to Heatherton as an uncontrolled access highway (formerly Trunk 4) and speed limit reduces . Past Heatherton, the highway runs east for to Auld's Cove and speed limit increased back to . At Auld's Cove, the highway becomes an uncontrolled access highway with a posted speed limit of and begins a concurrency with Trunk 4. It crosses the Strait of Canso along the Canso Causeway to Port Hastings on Cape Breton Island. At Port Hastings, the highway intersects Trunk 4, Trunk 19 and Highway 105 at a roundabout where Highway 105 proceeds east carrying the Trans-Canada Highway designation.