A roundabout considered for the intersection of Devonshire, Novalea and Duffus Streets caused considerable stir when nearby residents learned of the plan, but that intersection "is very obviously an ideal spot for a roundabout," says Reashor, and a roundabout there would increase safety for pedestrians, slow traffic and provide more green space.

Reashor will make a roundabout presentation to Halifax council this month, and hold an open house with north end residents this spring in hopes of convincing them to accept the roundabout proposal.

Exact details of the plans won’t be made public until Monday night, but Terry Drisdelle, a planner of with the Waterfront Development Corporation, revealed the broad outlines of the proposed development to me last Friday. The plan to be presented Monday is an amalgamation of the “best ideas” of three earlier working plans, says Drisdelle.

Both the roundabout and the waterfront towers will likely prove controversial.

The proposed roundabout would replace the present intersection of Kearney Lake Road and the Bedford Highway, one of the busiest roadways in Nova Scotia. Roundabouts are very common in Europe, and are gaining acceptance with North American traffic engineers because they slow traffic without stopping it, and send merging cars in the same direction, as opposed to against each other, as in traditional signaled intersections. Moreover, says Drisdelle, a roundabout will give motorists more “breaking out” points to access the new Birch Cove lands.

Still, partly due to a history of problems at the Armdale Rotary/Roundabout, the Nova Scotian public has not generally supported new roundabouts. For example, a proposal to simplify the north end intersection of Duffus Street, Novalea Drive and Devonshire Avenue was met with scorn by councillor Jerry Blumenthal.

Drisdelle says the towers, occupying the present site of Chinatown restaurant, are the trade-off that makes the Birch Cove plan possible: United Gulf Developments, which owns the site, will agree to pay for infrastructure costs like the new bridge, and to provide large areas of public amenities including a waterfront park, in return for increased density allowances.

The proposed bridge roadway will leave the Bedford Highway just south of the Birch Cove store, and head over the tracks to access the Chinatown property. Some of the working plans call for placing the tracks in a tunnel, but it’s unclear if that proposal made it into the final plans.

“Residents in the area want Birch Cove to become a destination, a neighbourhood,” explains Drisdelle of the plans. The plans will be made public Monday, 7pm, at St. Peter’s Anglican Church. For more information, see tinyurl.BirchCove.

Dartmouth residents like the design for a new, expanded Bridge Terminal, but dislike its location on Dartmouth Common land.

Architectural drawings for the new transit terminal were revealed at a public meeting at Dartmouth High School Monday night. The proposal stretches the terminal between Nantucket Avenue and Thistle Street, through what is now the wooded "urban wilderness" park behind the Sportsplex parking lot.

The existing Bridge Terminal is already the busiest transit terminal east of Montreal, and the proposed expanded terminal is very large indeed---stretching over 700 metres feet long, it will serve 17,000 commuters daily. There will be 16 bus bays, and a bus parking lane along the length of the back, eastern, wall. The terminal building itself will be three times as large as the Portland Hills terminal building, and will include seating, washrooms and a concession stand.

Early proposals for the terminal oriented it east-west, parallel and adjoining Nantucket Avenue, but in response to complaints that such an orientation would bring it too close to Dartmouth High, the plan was re-worked into its present north-south orientation. That brought its own set of design challenges, however, as people walking to the terminal from adjoining neighbourhoods would have to cross the buses' paths.

To resolve that problem and to provide a buffer between the noise of the terminal and the nearby Dartmouth High, architect Troy Scott has the terminal 18 feet beneath the existing grade leading up to the school, and provides a block-wide, curved pedestrian bridge leading to the top of the terminal building. There, three "lantern"-like entry points, two for stairways and one for an elevator, provide access to the building.

The pedestrian bridge and substantial excavation have increased costs considerably---Halifax council last month upped potential project costs from $4.5 to $9.5 million.

Residents at Monday's meeting (full disclosure: I live nearby as well) mostly felt that, so far as is possible on the site, Scott had listened to their earlier concerns and has produced what several called a "beautiful" building. Scott, who also lives in the neighbourhood, was clearly proud of the design.

But residents also felt the expanded terminal is inappropriately placed on Common land, and that the decision to place it there was made with no community consultation. "This is a fait accompli," said Dartmouth High teacher Mike Cosgrove. "We were never asked what we thought of this location, or if we had any better ideas."

The terminal proposal will go before the Harbour East Community Council in April, and the full HRM council soon thereafter. If it is approved, construction will start this summer, and likely take a year or more to complete. The public can still comment on the proposal; see tinyurl.com/bridgeterminal for architectural drawings, contacts and other details.

Councillor Barry Dalrymple
District 2, Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank
Route 55 serves only the Waverley part of the district.
No response.

Councillor David Hendsbee
District 3, Preston-Lawrencetown-Chezzetcook
Routes #51, 66
"on average twice a month - and the ferry about 4-8 trips a month > higher frequency in the summer, fewer in the winter ... ok ?"

Councillor Lorelei Nicoll
District 4, Cole Harbour
Routes #56, 59, 61, 65, 68, 72, 159, 165
"Thanks for the opportunity to provide you with information on how I get around this fine municipality, Tim. It is all about options, most days I car pool from Cole Harbour, some days I take the Link bus from Portland as it can get me downtown in less time than I can (and I get time to respond to emails at the same time). If I can avoid taking my car, I do. I also take the ferry from Alderney to downtown (and return) if I have business to conduct back-to-back on both sides of the harbour."

Councillor Gloria McCluskey
District 5, Dartmouth Centre
Routes #1, 10, 16, 41, 51, 52, 53, 55, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 68, 87, 159
No response

Councillor Darren Fisher
District 6, East Dartmouth- The Lakes
Routes #10, 54, 55
"I don't take the bus very often, but I live to carpool. I rarely cross the bridge without 3 others in the car. During snowstorms I will take the ferry and a bus. I do ride the ferry whenever possible during the summer with my kids to different waterfront events such as Buskers. I also will Ferry to the odd Moosehead game. "

Councillor Bill Karsten
District 7, Portland - East Woodlawn
Routes #56, 59, 61, 65, 68, 72, 159, 165
No response

Councillor Jackie Barkhouse
District 8, Woodside - Eastern Passage
Route #60
No Response

Councillor Jim Smith
District 9, North end Dartmouth
Routes #16, 52, 53, 64, 66, 72, 87
" I don't but want to...schedule is too erratic."

Councillor Mary Wile
District 10, Clayton Park West
Routes #2, 4, 16, 17, 18, 21, 31, 33, 34, 35, 42, 52, 89
" I normally don't take the bus. I live out in Clayton Park West and taking a bus would be quite difficult as it would take up considerable time from one transfer to another. Most cases I have to go to another meeting or appointment and need to hop into my car and either head to Dartmouth, back out to my district, or elsewhere. Councillors are like sales people, we go from one place to another and then to another. It is too difficult to try and catch buses for all these appts. Some places don't have bus service. I do have a great car though that is easy on the gas."

Councillor Jerry Blumenthal
District 11, Halifax North End
Routes #3, 7, 9, 21, 31, 33, 34, 35, 84, 85, 86
No response

Councillor Dawn Sloane
District 12, Halifax Downtown
Routes #1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 20, 35, 41, 51, 53, 58, 59, 61, 82, 86, 87
"My bus usage depends on my work schedule and where the meetings are being held. It's difficult to have back to back meetings in various locations within a workday. I typically use the bus 6 to 8 times a month"

Councillor Sue Uteck
District 13, Halifax South End
Routes #1, 3, 7, 9, 14, 17, 18, 35, 41, 42
No response

Councillor Jennifer Watts
District 14, Connaught - Quinpool
Routes #
No response

Councillor Russell Walker
District 15, Fairview - Clayton Park
Routes #
No response

Councillor Debbie Hum
District 16, Rockingham - Wentworth
Routes #
No Response

Councillor Linda Mosher
District 17, Purcell's Cove- Armdale
Routes #6, 14, 15, 19, 20, 32
"It is important to note that I work from home as much as possible. When I go downtown I don't take the bus - in my area you require 2 buses to get to most places I need to go. I do take the ferry to go to Dartmouth from downtown Halifax. In addition, if we implement high speed ferry service I certainly would be a frequent user from Purcell's Cove - downtown."
Adding:
"Neglected to mention that I walk if it is about 20 minutes or less.Also if we had a high speed ferry from Purcell's Cove - downtown Halifax it is my goal to have community shuttle buses during peak periods. So I would take a bus and then a ferry. Multi-modal :) Many members of Council car pool frequently as well. Russell Walker and I have car pooled many times."

Councillor Stephen Adams
District 18, Spryfield - Herring Cove
Routes #
No response

Councillor Brad Johns
District 19, Middle and Upper Sackville-Lucasville
Routes #80, 82, 83, 84, 85, 88, 185
"It should be noted, although I take the bus it is only the link and not traditional transit. As well, it is directly from the Sackville Terminal to City Hall. (As does my wife). My position and the expectations of me would not allow me to use transit exclusively. "

Councillor Bob Harvey
District 20, Lower Sackville
Routes #82, 84, 85, 87, 88
"I have gone to council a couple of times on 185 from Sackville in the last year."

Councillor Tim Outhit
District 21, Bedford
Routes #66, 80, 82
"Nope, but I will take rail, hovercraft, or ferry if / when the service(s) are launched in Bedford!!"

Councillor Reg Rankin
District 22, Timberlea-Prospect
Routes #21, 23
"I use the bus from time to time ; perhaps once every 3 or 4 weeks. "

Councillor Peter Lund
District 23, Hammonds Plains - St. Margaret's
Routes #
No response

CAO Dan English
No response

Deputy CAO Wayne Anstey
No response

Metro Transit manager Pat Soanes
No response

Metro Transit spokesperson Lori Patterson
No response

Metro Transit planner Eddie Robar
No response

God of traffic Ken Reashor
No response

Reporter Tim Bousquet
I buy a monthly bus pass, and take the bus to and from work almost every day (I drive maybe twice a month). I also often travel by bus through the day, on evenings and weekends, and of course to and from city council meetings.

• Transportation minister Bill Estabrooks (left) with Halifax mayor Peter Kelly (right). That's Metro Transit manager Pat Soanes squeezed in between.

• God of traffic Ken Reashor and councillor Jennifer Watts.

• Halifax deputy CAO Wayne Anstey (left) and Metro Transit planner Eddie Robar (right).

• Halifax councillors Brad Johns (left) and Bob Harvey (right).

• Official ghost buster to the mayor, Peter Duffy.

Well, it wasn't a council quorum-- several councillors were still wiping blood off themselves from the on-going secret HPD vs RCMP battle, but that's as many politicians and administers as we'll ever see on a bus, so we should pause and relish the moment, before noting that if they made this a regular occurrence--if they used the bus to actually commute and otherwise get around-- we might have better bus service. As is, transit is something for other people, and not very important other people at that (important people don't take the bus, don't you know) so transit doesn't get the fiscal or managerial attention it deserves.

Oh, here's the bus:

The buses cost $1.3 million each, with $300,000 of that pricetag coming from the province. Estabrooks quite rightly noted that there will be a learning curve for running the buses, but the hope is that they'll achieve a 30 percent reduction in fuel use, compared to a new traditional diesel bus.

Those are the headline take-aways from the five-year transit plan currently being debated by Halifax council. But, those snippets are immensely unfair: for the most part, the plan is a good one, and moves Halifax in the right direction, transit-wise.

Halifax council Tuesday agreed to buy 45 new buses. The $33 million contract will have Nova Bus, a division of the Volvo Bus Corporation, supply 15 buses over three years, with the first buses arriving in time for next school year.

Each year, 10 of the new buses will serve to expand Metro Transit's fleet, and five will replace aging buses. The new buses are the articulated, 60-foot LFS model, shown above. They'll be deployed on heavily used routes, increasing capacity by 50 percent; the 40-foot buses now used on those routes will be shifted to new and presently underserved routes.

At tonight's meeting, Halifax council agreed-- in secret-- to purchase a property-- for a secret amount of money. All very cryptic.

But, given that the purchase is related to a "regional transportation corridor," and given that the three councillors who objected to it were Jennifer Watts, Jerry Blumenthal and Dawn Sloane, it's a reasonable guess that the property involved the potential future widening of Bayers Road. (The road is the border between Watts' and Blumenthal's districts, and a widened road would funnel increased traffic directly into Sloane's district.)

There are two Bayers Road properties listed for sale on MLS---a four-bedroom house at 7020 Bayers listed at $249,900, and a two-bedroom house at 6850 Bayers listed for $169,900.

Congratulations---you just bought one of them.

Discussion of property purchases can legally be held in secret council sessions, because there is expected to be some back-and-forth niggling over price, and the city needs to go into such negotiations without having an open hand. But in this instance, the cryptic paperwork states that the city is actually entering into a purchase agreement, not making an offer, so the secrecy played no role in negotiating a lower price.

Moreover, this purchase involves a contentious political issue---the controversial proposal to widen Bayers Road. At a public meeting last year, several hundred area residents came out in opposition to the proposal. Such matters of large public concern, which, if it proceeds, will cost the taxpayers many millions of dollars, are absolutely a matter for public debate and government openness.

Council is cheating the public of that responsibility.

Update, 12 August, 12:44: The realtor for the house for sale at 7020 Bayers says he has no contact with the city concerning the property. The realtor for the house for sale at 6850 Bayers hasn't returned my phone call. So....

The RFP was scored using a two envelope process. Envelope one was the technical component of the RFP (qualifications and experience, methodology and approach, work plan schedule). Envelope two consists of the lump sum project cost and deliverables for this project (i.e., responds to Transit’s needs, efficient site plan, LEED Silver, etc.). Only those proponents that received 80 points or greater from envelope one had their second envelopes opened and evaluated.

Regardless, a new garage is required for any further expansion of Metro Transit, and so there is some urgency to get this moving. Metro Transit correctly argues that a second garage on the west side of the harbour will lessen "dead head" times and reduce costly bridge tolls for empty buses.

But while I don't really oppose this project, I would've like to have seen a garage closer to downtown, like, for example, on Port land near the international terminals.

All in all, like for most of HRM's large capital projects, I get that wishy-washy feeling that everything wasn't thought out well, we could probably do better and yet, still, the work has to get done...

The fare increase takes affect July 1.

See my news story on Thursday for more information.

The meeting was led by a collection of consultants and the lone city staffer, Dave McCusker, who were focused on the planning aspects of designing a highway corridor. In their minds, they're looking at the long-range transportation needs of the entire community. They have sophisticated computer programs that allow them to juggle all sorts of population and employment trends, including what bureaucrats would consider fairly aggressive transit policies adopted by city council (all of which are themselves outlined in the regional plan) and come up with some pretty sophisticated modelling of what that all means for a specific highway corridor-- in this case the 102 corridor, which starts as a the city street we all call Bayers Road, at Windsor Street, and stretches all the way up the BiHi, through Bedford and Fall River, and up to the intersection with Highway 118 near the airport.

A big part of their presentation included the placement of the proposed Burnside-Sackville connector highway, a mythical Highway 113 and various onramps and offramps along the BiHi. Their entire presentation was wrapped in planning terms and bureaucratic speak. It took me an entire career in municipal reporting to learn the logic behind all this stuff, but the community members for the most part didn't have a clue what was being discussed.

What the community wanted was specifics on the ten blocks or so of the road that runs between their houses-- when would Bayers Road be widened? How much off my yard will you take? Will it be possible for the kids to walk across the street to school? What is this going to do to my property values? Should I plant a garden?

The residents are extremely frustrated, and rightly so. McCusker rightly pointed out that the timing for widening the road is a political decision, not in his hands---it wouldn't likely happen within the next five years, but on the other hand it would likely happen within the planning "horizon," which extends all the way out to the year 2036. In the meanwhile, residents have property they can't sell, uncertainty about what kind of investments to make in their houses, lives on hold.

• Google maps

We've got a schizophrenic city government.

On the one hand, we've got city council moving forward (if slowly) with plans to demolish the Cogswell Interchange. As the staff report to this week's council meeting explains:

It is recommended that HRM Council:
1) approve the issuance of an RFP for consulting services to produce a detailed master plan for the removal and re-design of the Cogswell Interchange; and
2) instruct staff to explore the establishment of reserve Capital funding to offset future costs related to the maintenance and/or demolition and redesign of the Cogswell interchange.