Construction has officially begun on the latest multi-million dollar condominium project in downtown Halifax, and that means at least three years of traffic disruptions.
The contractor began setting up sidewalk closures and pedestrian detours along Birmingham Street, Clyde Street, and Dresden Row on Wednesday. Seventeen parking metres also have to be removed for the duration of the project.
“We look at each project on its own merits and we want to make sure everyone is safe and we mean the pedestrians and vehicles,” said Halifax Regional Municipality spokesperson Brendan Elliott.
“We don’t want anyone getting too close to a construction zone. This is a pretty big project, so unfortunately it does mean removing some of the parking spaces and rerouting people when it comes to pedestrian traffic.”
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Birmingham Street has also been changed to a one-way southbound street from Spring Garden Road to Clyde Street.
It’s these kind of disruptions that have some area residents worried about the impact of construction on their neighbourhood.
“I’m worried about parking, The noise, the pollution and the blasting,” said Christopher Breckenridge, a member of the Brenton Street and Schmidtville Residents Livability Group.
“There are the big issues that we have living directly across from the street. So, when we get here and we want to unload our groceries or something like that, we can’t stop here without blocking the street trying to unload it.”
He said he is also concerned about what blasting will mean for his 150-year-old home.
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Much of the downtown Halifax business community has been plagued by construction over the past few years due to major projects.
Spring Garden Area Business Association director Juanita Spencer said she hopes the municipality and local contractors have learned their lesson from cases like the Nova Centre.
“If businesses know when interruptions like street closures and utility disruptions are going to happen, they can plan for it. It doesn’t mean they won’t be impacted, but it allows them to mitigate some of the damage,” said Spencer.
“People are excited to see change and growth in the Spring Garden area and all downtown, but we need everyone working together so that everyone makes it through the construction phase.”
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