Traffic delays, large crowds expected for Holiday Parade of Lights in Halifax Saturday

The Halifax Regional Municipality says residents should prepare for large crowds and traffic delays in downtown Halifax Saturday afternoon into evening for the Holiday Parade of Lights.

The municipality says thousands of people are expected to line the parade route between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Residents are urged to plan their travel in advance and consider taking public transit to and from the downtown area, as parking will be limited and traffic is anticipated to be heavy.

The parade will begin on Rainnie Drive at the intersection of Gottingen Street, travel down Duke Street, south on Barrington Street, west onto Spring Garden Road, south onto South Park Street and west on University Avenue, before dispersing north on Robie Street.

The event will be traffic-controlled and escorted by Halifax Regional Police.

Some streets, including those along the parade route and some adjacent streets, will be closed beginning at 3 p.m.

HRM is also reminding motorists that the lanes running north and south through the Cogswell Interchange, from Barrington Street south of Cornwallis Street, are closed for construction.

Initially, the MacKay Bridge was going to be down from four lanes to two lanes over the weekend for maintenance work. However, in an updated news release Friday, the city says that work will no longer take this place this weekend and has been postponed. Both bridges between Halifax and Dartmouth will be fully opened.

FREE FERRY SERVICES

Halifax Transit will be offering free ferry service between the Alderney and Halifax ferry terminals between 3 p.m. and 10 p.m. Saturday. The ferries will run every 15 minutes during this time period.

In lieu of payment, passengers are encouraged to bring food or monetary donations to support the Parker Street Food Bank over the holiday season.

Halifax Transit buses that normally travel on the affected downtown Halifax streets will begin detour routes at 6 p.m.