'Become less car dependant': How could Halifax fix its traffic troubles?

Traffic gridlock is common on the routes to and from peninsular Halifax. Whether it's a collision or construction, delays can put a strain on the daily commute.

“I haven’t been into the city of Halifax, downtown, for years,” says Bedford resident Donald Snow.

Snow moved to the area in 1960, and as a member of the RCMP, he knows the roads well.

“The highways here can’t control the amount of traffic we have using the roads at the present moment,” Snow says.

As population growth prompts development further from the city centre, the existing routes are often clogged during the morning and afternoon commute, and there aren’t many alternatives on and off the peninsula.

It’s a problem some say will only get worse as the province sets its sights on a population of 2,000,000 by 2060.

“The largest thing is really to plan for the future,” says Guy Deveau, the interim CEO of the Joint Regional Transportation Agency.

“If we are going to double the population and have that amount of movement required, we are really going to have to rethink how this is done and hopefully we are going in the right direction.”

Deveau, who also has a role with the Nova Scotia Public Works Department, says there are also short-term solutions on the go.

“The department is currently building a new highway 107 Sackville, Bedford, Burnside connecter. This will result in increased safety and reduce travel times,” he says.

Halifax councillor Tony Mancini says the municipality must “become less car dependant.”

Mancini, who just came off the city’s transportation standing committee, says the goal is to have fewer vehicles entering the peninsula, not more.

“The challenge is that the transit system has to be more reliable than it is right now,” said Mancini. “We’ve switched on the ferry to every 15 minutes. We need to look at adding a third ferry that will come from Bedford and eventually Bedford Shannon Park and downtown Halifax,” says Mancini.

It's a ferry service that has been talked about for years, and is still years away.