Halifax committee to examine putting buses on Macdonald Bridge via Barrington

Halifax’s Transportation Standing Committee is set to examine a report on Thursday that looks at how the municipality could put more buses on the Macdonald Bridge.

Currently, buses are only able to access the Macdonald Bridge from North Street.

But the new staff report explores getting buses to access the bridge via the Barrington Street ramp.

It’s something that staff have described as “not possible” due to the geometry of the intersection, although internal documents obtained by Global News dispute that claim.

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Some of the possible options would be installing a dedicated traffic signal or widening the intersection to permit a right turn from the curb lane.

Coun. Waye Mason says the report was requested when council was considering the transformation of Gottingen Street into a priority bus lane.

That project is now complete, and the number of buses going up and down Gottingen Street during peak hours has increased from 79 to 90.

But of those 90 buses, roughly 35 don’t stop or have limited stops along the street. Instead, they’re mainly using the road as a way to access the Macdonald Bridge.

Mason says the options in the new report would not eliminate the need for a bus lane on Gottingen Street.

“But can we reduce the ones that don’t stop or only stop at one spot on Gottingen Street to help restore some of the quality of life that some people have felt has been impacted by the bus lane, and if we can do that in a way that gets buses going very quickly up the bridge ramp then that’s a win for everybody,” Mason said.

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Even if some buses take the Barrington Street ramp instead of Gottingen Street, there will still be about 40 buses during peak times.

Mason says the next step is to consider another bus that runs through Cogswell onto Barrington Street during peak hours to further improve the flow of traffic going into Dartmouth.

But don’t expect changes to come anytime soon: the staff report doesn’t recommend any action until the completion of the Cogswell Interchange redevelopment project is completed.