Miramichi, New Brunswick - Transportation

Transportation

Roads

Miramichi has good highway connections to other major centres in New Brunswick offered via Highways 8 (west to Fredericton; north to Bathurst and Campbellton) and 11 (south to Moncton, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia). The Plaster Rock – Renous highway (Route 108) offers the quickest connection to major centres in Quebec, Upper Canada, and points west.

For many years, the only bridge at Miramichi was a narrow, historic crossing called the Morrissy Bridge, at Newcastle. Ferry service facilitated crossings at Chatham and Loggieville. In the late 1960s the Centennial Bridge was completed at Chatham, greatly improving north-south transit across the river. The Miramichi Bridge at Newcastle opened in the late 1990s.

Water

The towns of Chatham and Newcastle were formerly important ports for northeastern New Brunswick. Dredging, however, was necessary to maintain a deep enough channel for most ships to cross between the barrier dune islands at the mouth of Miramichi Bay. Ocean-going ships entering the port must have a shallow draft, and must navigate the ancient, meandering course of the drowned Miramichi River channel through the inner Bay.

Rail

The New Brunswick East Coast Railway (NBECR), formerly part of the Canadian National Railway (CN) mainline, and the earlier Intercolonial Railway passes through Miramichi. Supplementing NBECR's freight capacity, Via Rail offers passenger service on this line at the Miramichi railway station via the Ocean train to Montreal and Halifax.

Air

Miramichi is located within a 90 minute drive of two international airports (Fredericton International Airport, Greater Moncton International Airport) with scheduled domestic and international flights. In addition the Miramichi Airport Commission operates the Miramichi Airport (YCH) on the former site of CFB Chatham.