ATLANTIC

Overnight closures begin for Macdonald bridge in downtown Halifax

THE CANADIAN PRESS Published Sunday, March 1, 2015 8:48PM AST

The Macdonald Bridge is seen in this undated file photograph.

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HALIFAX -- The bridge between downtown Halifax and Dartmouth will be closed to vehicles five nights per week starting Sunday.

Halifax's bridge authority says motorists will not be allowed on the Angus L. Macdonald bridge between 7 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. from Sunday to Thursday each week.

The overnight closures are the result of a project to replace suspended portions of the bridge, which opened in 1955.

The bridge authority says the project, which it calls "The Big Lift," is scheduled to finish in 2017.

The Halifax Harbour Bridges website says pedestrians and cyclists won't be affected by the bridge closures until the sidewalk and bike lane are removed in June.

It says during the closures drivers will have to use the A. Murray MacKay bridge, about four kilometres away, and that there will be a shuttle for people who typically walk or bike across the Macdonald bridge.