'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.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.