Plan route carefully if you want to see this weekend’s Halifax Pride Parade

If you’re heading to the Halifax Pride Parade on Saturday, you’ll want to plan what route you’re taking as various detours could consume a bit more of your travel time, including the MacDonald Bridge being closed for the weekend.

The bridge closes at 7 p.m. Friday and will remain closed until 5:30 a.m. Monday as Halifax Harbour Bridge, which could mean delays for many. Furthermore, an announcement earlier this week by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that he would be marching in the parade — the first prime minister to do so — could mean attendance could see a big jump from the estimated 100,000 people who attended last year.

Closure of the bridge this weekend is a result of Halifax Harbour Bridges (HHB) reaching “another milestone” with the Big Lift project. Four large expansion joints removed from the bridge as deck segments were replaced this past year are being re-installed once more.

READ MORE: Justin Trudeau to march in Halifax Pride Parade

Alison MacDonald, with HHB, said the installation is a “critical path” and once they are installed, the bumps people have experienced as they drove across the bridge during the project are expected to go away. The closures can’t be pushed back, she said, because people are being brought in from outside the city due to the specialized equipment.

“We understand that it’s a very busy weekend, every weekend in the summer fortunately here it’s busy but this has been on the critical path for several weeks, months now and the closure is unavoidable,” MacDonald said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We understand that it's a very busy weekend, every weekend in the summer fortunately here it's busy but this has been on the critical path for several weeks, months now and the closure is unavoidable," MacDonald said.

MacDonald said another bridge closure will also occur next weekend when the Rendez-Vous 2017 Tall Ships Regatta.

WATCH: Halifax Pride is concluding its 11 day festival on a high note. After more than a week of awareness campaigns, activities and events, the annual Pride Parade took place on Saturday. Global’s Natasha Pace reports.

2:13 Tens of thousands of people line streets for Halifax Pride Parade

The overall project is still on schedule to be completed by late fall of this year, behind schedule from where the company wanted to be a year ago, MacDonald said.

More buses, weekend ferry schedule

The City of Halifax is also advising people to plan ahead as there will be numerous bus detours as a result of the parade, though a spokesperson for the municipality said there would be extra buses on the road.

The Alderney Ferry, which runs every 30 minutes on the weekend, will maintain that timing even though more people may be expected to head to the downtown.

“Basically what they do is take an assessment based on their prediction of how many people will come and have made the decision that the standard service with these additional buses will be sufficient,” Ritcey said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Basically what they do is take an assessment based on their prediction of how many people will come and have made the decision that the standard service with these additional buses will be sufficient," Ritcey said.

He said if any bus becomes overcrowded, the bus driver would call for an extra bus to come and pick up those who could not board the first vehicle.

READ MORE: Tens of thousands of people line streets for Halifax Pride Parade

Ritcey added people who are planning to come downtown to watch the parade should make adequate time for them to arrive.

The parade route starts on Upper Water Street before making its way onto Barrington Street, it then turns right onto Spring Garden Road, the another right onto South Park Road before coming to an end at the Garrison Grounds on Bell Road.

A full list of the detours for Halifax Transit can be found on the city’s website.