Route 2, also known as Veterans Memorial Highway and the All Weather Highway, is a two-lane uncontrolled access

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

traversing

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

from

Tignish Tignish is a Canadian town located in Prince County, Prince Edward Island. It is located approximately northwest of the city of Summerside, and northwest of the city of Charlottetown. It has a population of 719. The name "Tignish" is derive ...

to Souris. Route 2 was recognized as the first numbered highway in the province in 1890, when it opened between Charlottetown and Summerside. It passes through the cities of Summerside and

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...

and roughly parallels the former primary

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line through the province, which was abandoned in 1989. The highway was first paved in the 1950s with many upgrades in recent decades. A perimeter arterial highway (ring road) across the northern and eastern part of Charlottetown was constructed as part of Route 2 in the 1990s with funding from a $200 million federal adjustment fund for road construction after the railway was abandoned. This section of road was extended to Upton Road and is now signed for Route 1 (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 ...

), although Route 2 uses a small portion of the arterial highway between the Malpeque Road and St. Peter's Highway.

Names

Route 2 is commonly called the "All Weather Highway," as it was one of the first roads in Prince Edward Island to be open for traffic in all seasons. In June 2002, premier

Pat Binns Patrick George Binns (born October 8, 1948), is a Canadian diplomat, the 30th premier of Prince Edward Island from 1996 to 2007 and Canadian Ambassador to Ireland from 2007 to 2010. Binns has a long history of public service, most notably being ...

designated the highway the "Veterans Memorial Highway". Transportation minister

Don MacKinnon Donald G. MacKinnon (born 3 February 1949) is a former Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Winsloe-West Royalty in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island from 1996 to 2003. He was a member of the Prince Edwar ...

said that the designation honoured the highway's vital role in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, when it provided "a transportation link to the military facilities of

CFB Summerside Canadian Forces Base Summerside (CFB Summerside) was an air force base located in St. Eleanors, Prince Edward Island, Canada, now part of the city of Summerside. RCAF Station Summerside World War II The airfield was constructed by the Royal Ca ...

and the air training facility in Mount Pleasant". Route 2 has several local names: * Souris Road (Souris to Route 4 at Dingwells Mills) * St. Peter's Highway (Dingwells Mills to Charlottetown) * Malpeque Road (Charlottetown to

Hunter River Hunter River may refer to: *Hunter River (New South Wales), Australia *Hunter River (Western Australia) *Hunter River, New Zealand *Hunter River (Prince Edward Island), Canada **Hunter River, Prince Edward Island, community on Hunter River, Canada ...

); the Malpeque Road alignment continuing thereafter on the

Old Princetown Road Old Princetown Road (also known as Old Malpeque Road or simply Malpeque Road) is an historic colonial road in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island. Dating to at least 1771, the approximately road was an important inland commercial and mili ...

* New Annan Road (

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

to Summerside) * Western Road (Summerside to Tignish)

Mount Pleasant diversion

The portion of the highway running through the farming hamlet of Mount Pleasant west of Summerside was diverted for several years during the 1940s with the establishment of an air force base named

RCAF Station Mount Pleasant RCAF Station Mount Pleasant was a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) station in Mount Pleasant, Prince Edward Island, Mount Pleasant, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Two of its runways remain in use by members of the Experimental Aircraft Associatio ...

. The base was closed following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the "Western Road" was returned to its original alignment which currently runs along the former flight line and tarmac of the air force base. The diversion road constructed around the base is still in use as a local public road.

Major intersections

References

{{Prince Edward Island provincial highways, state=collapsed

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 ...

Summerside, Prince Edward Island Transport in Charlottetown