Technical glitch delays Halifax bridge increase by one day

HALIFAX -

Motorists will soon be paying more to cross the Halifax Harbour Bridges.

The toll to cross the Macdonald and MacKay Bridges was supposed to increase Monday, Jan. 3 but because of a technical glitch, the increase has been delayed by one day.

“They figured out what the problem was and they just resolved it,” said Steve Proctor, Communications Manager with Halifax Harbour Bridges. “It resets tonight at midnight.”

Starting Tuesday, Jan. 4, the toll for a passenger vehicle using a MacPass will increase from 80 cents to $1 while the cost for a passenger vehicle using cash will go from $1 to $1.25.

Commercial vehicles using cash or MacPass will see an increase of 25 per cent per axle. Bus and Access-A-Bus traffic are exempt from the increase.

"The toll increase is needed because the bridges are reaching the middle of their life,” said Proctor. “Bridges are expensive to maintain, we have 33 million people go across them every year that takes a lot of wear and tear on the actual superstructure of the bridges."

Halifax Harbour Bridges says this is the first increase in a decade.