'This project has been a haul': Halifax's Spring Garden Road streetscaping project in final countdown

A busy Halifax street is closed to vehicle traffic once again as crews make the final push to complete the $10.8 million revitalization project for Spring Garden Road.

But to Gary “Caesar” Julien, who takes his mother in her wheelchair down the street to the Halifax Public Gardens every other day, the work hasn’t been worth the price tag.

“It doesn't make any sense to me, there's too many things blocking the walkway, too much concrete,” he said in an interview Tuesday.

The project’s original budget of $10 million was recently increased by council to help make up for expensive utility work, COVID-19 delays and what city staff call “unknowns in the roadway.”

After starting construction in 2021, which required closing the street to traffic for months, the final countdown is on to wrap the project up.

As a result, Spring Garden Road is once again closed between Queen and South Park Streets to all vehicles, including transit buses and bicycles, until September 19.

Halifax city planner Elora Wilkinson said three bus shelters need to be built, some sidewalks need to be finished and the city is working on addressing "deficiencies" in previously-completed work on Spring Garden.

This will involve “resetting some of the pavers, cleaning some of the valves, addressing some of the trees that haven't lasted the first year,” Wilkinson said.

“So very minor, tidy-up work.”

Sue Uteck, the executive director of the Spring Garden Area Business Association, pictured on Spring Garden Road on Sept. 5, 2023. (CTV Atlantic/Heidi Petracek).

Sue Uteck, the executive director of the Spring Garden Area Business Association, said the project has dragged on.

“This project has been a haul, I'm not going to be dishonest about that,” Uteck said.

The head of the business association said shop owners are trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but she is disappointed that damaged planters and uneven cobblestone are not being fixed.

“For the city to put another million dollars into this project, and not fix a basic… safety hazard on the road, that's very disappointing,” she said.

Wilkinson said the city isn’t replacing all the uneven cobblestones at this time, but that may happen at a later date.

The city planner acknowledged it's been a long road for work on the relatively short street, but in two weeks it will be complete.

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