'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
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Fewer medical students going into family medicine contributing to doctor shortage
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Competition bureau finds 'substantial' anti-competitive effects with proposed Bunge-Viterra merger
The proposed merger of agricultural giants Viterra and Bunge is raising competition concerns from the federal government.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.