Continued road construction causing headaches for Halifax drivers

It almost seems like there's construction on every road across the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), and it’s creating headaches for some drivers.

From highways 101 and 102 to Bedford, Sackville and downtown Halifax, road work is creating one-way traffic on some streets and closing others all together.

“Oh, my goodness, it is horrendous. Thank God I work at 4:30 in the morning so I don't have to deal with it coming to work but leaving through Bedford is a nightmare,” Wendy Ogrady says.

Some of the construction projects around HRM are long-term affairs; others completed in a matter of days.

Motorists say they wish there was more communication about where and when road closures are going to happen.

“Certainly for the longer-term closures or the bigger projects like Cogswell, for example, we tried to give residents as much notice as we can, so often providing several weeks lead time to notify them of construction impacts,” says Laura Wright, the municipality’s senior public affairs advisor.

The issue some have is the length of time it's taking to finish the job. The province's Burnside Connector is more than a year behind schedule. In Halifax, Almon Street is a few weeks behind.

“The project is taking a bit longer than originally scheduled as we run into a few obstacles along the way, like the discovery of old tram lines and learning that some essential utility work is also required,” Wright says.

A temporary tow away zone is pictured. (Source: Jonathan MacInnis/CTV News Atlantic)

The city's biggest undertaking is the Cogswell Interchange project, which is on schedule,

“We're also gearing up to reopen a section of Barrington Street that's been closed since June,” Wright says. “That will re-establish a key north-south corridor in downtown so we're hoping that traffic will improve.”

That can’t happen soon enough for Nick Portman, who lives in Sackville, N.B., but frequently visits Halifax.

“It's a pain in the butt. Last week we were visiting our son in Toronto and it was easier to get from his house into downtown than it is to get through Bedford at lunchtime,” Portman says. “What's astonishing, really, is that I was a little kid when they built the Bi-Hi and they haven't changed anything in 50 years.”

City officials say they're not sure how many more projects are left for the year. The goal is to wrap up the ones that are underway before the weather starts to change.

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