Route 2, also known as Pitts Memorial Drive and Peacekeeper's Way, is a
freeway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...
on the
Avalon Peninsula
The Avalon Peninsula (french: Péninsule d'Avalon) is a large peninsula that makes up the southeast portion of the island of Newfoundland. It is in size.
The peninsula is home to 270,348 people, about 52% of Newfoundland's population, according ...
of
Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
in the
Canadian province
Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...
of
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
. The road provides a direct link from the
Trans-Canada Highway
The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean o ...
(TCH) to downtown
St. John's, Newfoundland
St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland.
The city spans and is the easternmost city in North America ...
, which was previously accessible only via city streets such as
Topsail Road
Route 60, also known as Topsail Road in Mount Pearl and St. Johns, and as Conception Bay Highway for the rest of its length, is a east-west highway on the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland. It runs between the town of Cupids and the city of St. J ...
or
Kenmount Road
Kenmount Road is a major road in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. It begins at the intersection of Freshwater Road and Newfoundland and Labrador Route 50, Thorburn Road, just east of the Columbus Drive overpass. Originally passing through r ...
(which was part of the TCH until the Outer Ring Road was built). Initially called the Harbour Arterial, construction began in the early 1970s and was completed in 1979. The $52-million project was funded by the federal and provincial governments. It was renamed by the city council in 1984 after local businessman James Stewart Pitt (1847-1914).
The road bypasses
Mount Pearl
Mount Pearl is the third-largest settlement and second-largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The city is located southwest of St. John's, on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. Mount Pearl is the fo ...
to the south and then runs parallel to the
Waterford River on an embankment/cutting along the Southside Hills. It enters the downtown on a concrete
viaduct
A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...
that carries it over the Waterford River valley and the terminus of the former
Newfoundland Railway
The Newfoundland Railway operated on the island of Newfoundland from 1898 to 1988. With a total track length of , it was the longest narrow-gauge railway system in North America.
Early construction
]
In 1880, a committee of the Newfoundland Leg ...
. At the end of the viaduct, it meets New Gower Street which continues into downtown St. John's.
As a major route into and out of the city, the road is subject to heavy traffic and has had its share of unfortunate incidents and shutdowns.
Route description
Route 2 begins as Peacekeeper's Way in
Conception Bay South, Newfoundland and Labrador, Conception Bay South (locally known as C.B.S.) at an at-grade intersection with
Route 60 (Conception Bay Highway) in the Seal Cove portion of town. It immediately heads northeast as a two-lane Freeway (super-two) to bypass the town along its southern edge while having interchanges with several local roads, including
Route 61 (Foxtrap Access Road) and the Manuels Access Road, where Route 2 wides to a divided four-lane as it enters the town of
Paradise
In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...
. The highway now passes through mainly rural areas before following the
Mount Pearl
Mount Pearl is the third-largest settlement and second-largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The city is located southwest of St. John's, on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. Mount Pearl is the fo ...
-
St. John's city at a large interchange with
Route 1 (
Trans-Canada Highway
The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean o ...
). Route 2 now becomes Pitts Memorial Drive and passes through Mount Pearl's southernmost neighbourhoods, where it has an interchange with
Route 3 (Robert E Howlett Memorial Drive/Goulds Bypass). This interchange is also proposed to be the eventual southern terminus of
Route 3A (Team Gushue Highway). Route 2 now fully enters the St. John's city limits as it passes through farmland just north of
Goulds for a few kilometres before entering neighbourhoods at an interchange between
Route 10 (Bay Bulls Road) and
The Parkway (Columbus Drive) in
Kilbride. The highway begins following a ridge overlooking the city as it passes through St. John's southernmost neighbourhoods, crossing over
Route 11 (Blackhead Road) without an interchange, before crossing the
Waterford River along a concrete
viaduct
A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...
and coming to an end at interchange/at-grade intersection between
Water Street Water Street may refer to:
*Water Street, Hong Kong
** Water Street (constituency) around Water Street, Hong Kong
* Water Street, Milwaukee
*Water Street, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated village
* Water Street (Augusta, Maine)
*Water Street (St. Jo ...
, Hamilton Avenue, and New Gower Street in downtown.
Exit list
Except for the Conception Bay Highway and Hamilton Avenue intersections, all intersections are
grade-separated
In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tran ...
.
References
{{Newfoundland and Labrador highways
002 002, 0O2, O02, OO2, or 002 may refer to:
Fiction
*002, fictional British 00 Agent
*''002 Operazione Luna'',
*1965 Italian film
*Zero Two, a ''Darling in the Franxx'' character
Airports
*0O2, Baker Airport
*O02, Nervino Airport
Astronomy
*1996 ...
Streets in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador