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Route 7

History

Route 7, in its current state, has only existed since 1965. Until the 1950s, travelers between Fredericton and Saint John frequently used the River Road (then part of Route 2, now Route 102). When the Broad Road (Route 2A), running south from Oromocto through Welsford to its junction with Route 2 in Westfield, was paved, it became the major route between the two major cities, and the renumbering of highways in 1965 recognized that fact.

The 1960s and 1970s saw major upgrades to the roadway between Fredericton and Saint John. The Martinon Bypass opened in 1962, taking traffic away from the Westfield Road on Saint John's west side. When the Vanier Highway (briefly Route 12) was extended eastward from Lincoln to Oromocto in 1976, it became part of Route 7 (which had formerly taken the Lincoln Road into Fredericton, passing through the heart of downtown and following the Woodstock Road to the Trans-Canada west of the city; all now part of Route 102). A bypass of Oromocto and Geary was built around the same time.

A bypass of Grand Bay and Westfield opened in 1987, and the Martinon Bypass was extended south from Ocean West Way (Route 100) to Route 1 in 1991. The last non-controlled access section of the highway, between the junction of Route 177 (the former Route 7) north of Westfield and the CFB Gagetown line in Welsford, was to be bypassed in 1997 before the results of the environmental impact assessment nixed the idea. Other upgrades, such as a twinning of the Martinon Bypass, Vanier Highway and the area around Petersville Hill in CFB Gagetown, took place through the 1990s. A new, wider Oromocto bypass opened in 2000. The Trans-Canada Highway (Route 2) project in 2001 utilized part of Route 7 between Fredericton and Oromocto, and that section is now officially part of both highways. The 2004 construction of an interchange at Wilsey Road in Fredericton removed the last traffic light on Route 7.

Guide

Route 7 officially begins at the Route 8 (a.k.a. the former TCH) overpass in Fredericton, but for all intents and purposes, it starts just to the west at an intersection with Regent Street (Route 101). Known in Fredericton as the Vanier Highway, Route 7 runs to the southeast through an industrial park, with service roads at some points, to an interchange with the TCH at the city limits. Route 7 and the TCH continue eastward along the original Vanier Highway routing to the town of Oromocto.

Known as "Canada's Model Town", Oromocto was a tiny rural hamlet until CFB Gagetown came to fruition in the 1950s. The town shows signs of a planned community (for instance, there is no traditional downtown area), and the military dominates the local economy.

Route 7 leaves the TCH and turns south of Oromocto, over a series of hills through the heart of CFB Gagetown. Several rural communities to the southeast of Oromocto, such as Petersville, Hibernia, Jerusalem, and Olandville, were destroyed to make way for the base. Little remains of any of them, but a small cemetary along the side of Route 7 marks the former site of Petersville. Petersville Hill, considered by locals to be the halfway point between Fredericton and Saint John, is now the site of a military installation.

Leaving the base, Route 7 reaches the small village of Welsford, the last community on the highway that hasn't been bypassed. The intersection with Route 101, and the small Irving station (the only gas station between Saint John and Oromocto), remains a landmark along the highway. Just to the south is an at-grade crossing with the New Brunswick Southern Railway mainline. The road continues to the south, squeezing and winding its way along the side of a hill, with a small rest area (one of the last government-owned picnic sites in the province) at Eagle Rock.

With Route 177 (the former Route 7 until the 1980s) departing to the southeast, the freeway begins again, bypassing Grand Bay and Westfield (officially merged into one town now). Route 7 enters Saint John on the Martinon Bypass, passing the Crane Mountain landfill and a reservoir holding much of the city's drinking water. After an interchange with Route 100, the highway merges into Route 1 on the city's west side.

Junction/Exit List

(c) 1997-2007 J.P. Kirby. All rights reserved.