I am a girl who likes to bike. I live in halifax, but my parents, some friends and my school are in Dartmouth. I try as much as I can to get on my bike and take the journey over to D-town. However, the ferry (although very enjoyable) is $2.25 and my school (NSCC) does not suport cheap bus passes through tuition. I enjoy biking over the bride, but I do not enjoy the INSANE and UNESSISARY ramp to get onto and off of the bridge with my bike. I do not understand why the rail from the bridge continues all the way down the ramp. I live on Chebucto, so why is it again that I am forced to bike down to Barrington when getting onto and off of the bridge? Not only is this an incredibly confusing set up, but it is also dangerous. When returning home I have to move to the right side of the street, which means crossing the steep ramp. Cars drive very fast off the bridge, around the corner and down the hill onto Barrington. It is scary sometimes, bikers cannot see cars and cars cannot see bikers.
This awkward situation could be fixed if there was a hole in the rail when the bridge meets the street. Nothing fancy, just a hole big enough to get a bike through. I think more bikers would use the bridge and it would just make for a much more enojyable ride!
—Kate
This article appears in Aug 6-12, 2009.
I totally agree!
100% agree
I almost (a big almost) bought in Dartmouth but biking the bridge everyday was the deal breaker, amongst other things.
Should definitely have an uphill/straight to North St option there. Is there some kind of bike path on the east side of Barrington? If there is it’s not very well marked (the path appears to end at the bottom of the Barrington ramp).
I am not normally sympathetic to bike bitches here but on this I agree. The HDBC missed the boat on this design. What is needed is a bike overpass. Split a ramp off the right side of the bike deck partway up the Halifax side and span it over the car lane that leads under the bridge to Barrington with it emptying onto North partway up the hill. Yes, it would cost something to do it right. But it needs to be done.
I have a very cheap & simple solution (that’s why it will never be implemented !)
Make both outside lanes bike lanes & walking lanes ‘gasp’
They simply paint a line right down the middle of each lane & people walk in one & bike in the other… if two are coming toward each other use a bit of restraint & one YEILDS to the other, or temperarily goes in the other lane !
Like i said, cheap & way too difficult for any bureaucrat to figure out !
Put a ramp at the end of the bridge on the Halifax side so the bikers can jump over the lane of traffic going down to Barrington Street and land on the other side and go up to North Street…..Everyone wins 🙂
NSCC Waterfront is fighting to get bus passes. We will need help and support from the students this year!
send emails or drop by the Student Association office! sa.waterfront@nscc.ca
Ah yes the bridge where 3 of my 9 accidents involving cars happened in the last few years…
While I sympathize with your plight and agree that the city could definitely do more for cyclists, the reason the rail is continuous like that is because if a car hits it at a good clipspeed, two things could easily happen.
1: The vehicle could force through the barrier and mow down anyone behind it.
2: More likely it (the end of the rail) becomes a wedge and pierces the occupant cabin and kills when it should and deflected and saved.
It is a ridiculous setup!