Options for redesigning Windsor Street exchange in Halifax under review
Haley Ryan | CBC News | Posted: January 20, 2023 10:00 AM | Last Updated: January 20, 2023
Cycling advocate says first focus should be to cut down on car traffic
Work is moving along behind the scenes to rebuild one of Halifax's most important traffic intersections, but some worry anyone not in a car will be left behind.
The Windsor Street exchange is now a mish-mash of lanes and ramps connecting peninsular Halifax with Bedford to the north and also Dartmouth via the MacKay Bridge.
But after years of planning and a large influx of federal dollars tying the redesign to a larger project with the Port of Halifax, a consultant group is now conducting an engineering study on the project's two proposed designs. That team is set to come to Halifax for a workshop in February.
"We get a fresh set of eyes that take a look at the design work that's already been done … and they will evaluate if there are any alternatives that might be available," said Megan Soroka, project manager with the city's design and construction department.
"They look at improving the efficiency of the design, the constructability, the safety, the reliability and the cost."
Both designs include lowering the existing street level slightly, building a new overpass from the Bedford Highway to the MacKay Bridge, and enlarging side streets like Bayne and MacKintosh.
They have also been tweaked slightly since being brought to the public in late 2021, Soroka said. Option A now features one roundabout rather than two to move cars through the area, while option B's multiple intersections with traffic lights have been tightened.
New sidewalks and a multi-use pathway that uses crosswalks are included in both plans. Better access to the Fairview Cove Container Terminal and Africville Road will also be part of the project.
"We're looking to serve a lot of different modes of transportation in this one project and we're hoping to balance all those and improve the efficiency of the intersection," Soroka said.
Although the plans show transit times would improve in both designs and a future bus rapid transit line would come through the area, priority lanes for those buses are not included yet.
But Peter Zimmer, board chair of the Halifax Cycling Coalition, said that approach is backward.
"If they are serious, you put the important things first," Zimmer said. "This Windsor street exchange becomes a barrier for anybody who is not driving a car between the peninsula and the rest of Halifax."
Zimmer said he would have liked to see staff plan first for how to get vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists through the area before looking at where cars would travel.
"If one hurries up and builds a better bus option, and gets that pushed through much more quickly, maybe then you take some of the cars out of the way," Zimmer said. "We're talking about designing for the next 50 years, not the last 50 years."
He also has issues with the proposed multi-use path, saying a bike lane that could also be used by scooters within the roadway would be ideal and should be separated from people moving more slowly in wheelchairs or pushing strollers.
Zimmer said he likes the use of roundabouts because they slow traffic down without stopping it, and feel much more comfortable for cyclists.
Soroka says the detailed design phase will get down to specifics after an update goes to Halifax council this spring.
"That's when we'll look at how the road network is laid out, where transit stops would be, what type of transit stops will be there," Soroka said.
The redesign is part of a larger project the Port of Halifax is doing to connect the South End and Fairview Cove container terminals through a rail shuttle, Soroka said, which will increase the number of trucks moving through the area.
Before the pandemic, about 48,000 vehicles drove through the area every day, but Soroka has said it's projected that will increase to up to 100,000 vehicles a day.
Half of the $51-million Windsor Street exchange redesign will be paid by the federal government, while Soroka said the province has contributed $10 million and the Port of Halifax is chipping in as well. The city's portion will likely work out to more than $10 million, Soroka said.
Construction is expected to start next year, and would take two to three years.
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