End of the road signals new beginning

For more than two decades, a 40-kilometre stretch of two-lane highway added hours to trucking routes, increased shipping costs and limited Atlantic Canada’s competitiveness. Now, finally, after 24 years of construction, Highway 85 is almost complete.

The roughly 100-kilometre stretch of rural highway between Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec and the New Brunswick border is the last remaining two-lane section on the Trans-Canada between Halifax, Nova Scotia and Windsor, Ontario.

With just a small portion left to twin, completion is expected in 2026. For the trucking industry, which handles the majority of freight in the region, the opening will mark the end of a barrier that has hampered efficient movement for years. Previously Route 185, the completed roadway will be known as Highway 85. For businesses across the Atlantic region, the change could mean lower shipping costs, faster delivery times and better access to markets in central Canada.

“It will be such a relief to our industry,” said Chris McKee, executive director of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association, which represents 340 member companies moving approximately $100 billion in freight annually. “We’ve been sitting on the sidelines, kind of on the outside looking in, just waiting for this to be finished.”

The Canadian Trucking Alliance has listed the highway among its infrastructure priorities for years. In June 2025, representatives testified before the Senate on interprovincial trade barriers, citing the twinning of Route 185 in Quebec as one of the industry’s key priorities.

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