MacKay Bridge closure, downtown Halifax construction starting Friday expected to cause traffic delays

A series of weekend closures for one of the bridges connecting Halifax and Dartmouth, N.S., begins Friday night.

As previously announced, the A. Murray MacKay Bridge will be closed for three weekends in June and one in July

Last month, Halifax Harbour Bridges (HHB) said the closures will allow for maintenance and inspection projects that can't be done while the bridge is open.

The MacKay will be closed beginning 7 p.m. Friday and will reopen at 5:30 a.m. on Monday.

"It's not like the paving you would see on a highway or on a roadway. We take it down to the steel," said Steve Proctor with HHB.

"So, there's no way that we could even have any of the lanes open. It's very intense. There will be one piece where they're actually replacing a bearing so they can actually lift the bridge."

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The other three closures will happen from:

• 7 p.m. on Friday, June 14 to 5:30 a.m. Monday, June 17
• 7 p.m. on Friday, June 21 to 5:30 a.m. Monday, June 24
• 7 p.m. on Friday, July 5 to 5:30 a.m. Monday, July 8

The Angus L. Macdonald Bridge will remain open though it is expected the MacKay closure will cause traffic delays and heavier traffic than usual.

"We understand that it's going to create some traffic problems around the city. We do the best we can to minimize the use," said Proctor.

Live traffic conditions on the bridges can be viewed on the HHB website or the MACPASS app.

More city construction

Another big closure in the downtown area is also expected to affect city traffic this weekend.

Barrington Street from Nora Bernard Street to Duke Street will be closed beginning at 7 p.m. Friday to 5:30 a.m. Monday as part of the Cogswell District project.

The Cogswell District design plan is seen in this image. (Halifax Regional Municipality)

A news release from the city says that closure is so crews can realign the intersection and traffic lights at Barrington Street and Upper Water Street.

It won't be long until that stretch is closed for about six months.

"Co-ordinating construction around our busy summer tourist season is always a struggle for all projects, especially one as big as this one," said Elora Wilkinson, project manager with the Halifax Regional Municipality.

This closure will also impact Halifax Transit. The four bus bays in front of Scotia Square will be forced to move, resulting in 30 routes being re-directed.

"We've been working really closely with transit over the last few months to come up with a plan," said Wilkinson.

"Transit will be relocating their bus bays to a couple different locations. The main bus bay will be down on Granville Street."

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