The retail wilderness of the Bayers Lake Industrial Park “severely lacks” the transit and accessible infrastructure needed for the province’s new outpatient centre, say planning advocates.
On Thursday the provincial Liberal government announced it had purchased 15 acres of land in the BLIP as part of the redevelopment of the ageing QEII Health Science Centre. A new “community outpatient centre” will be built over the next four years on a patch of land behind Home Outfitters and Marshalls.
According to the Health Authority, the medical centre will provide blood collection services, diagnostic imaging, medical and surgical clinics along with pre- and post-operative care.
“This is a significant step in the QEII redevelopment project,” said premier Stephen McNeil in a press release. “Not every service needs to be offered in downtown Halifax. We often hear Nova Scotians say traffic and parking are major concerns when travelling to the VG site of the QEII Health Sciences Centre.
But the off-peninsula location was criticized in a joint statement released by the Ecology Action Centre, Halifax Cycling Coalition, Our HRM Alliance and It’s More Than Buses. The transit and planning advocates say the site currently has limited bus service, sidewalks, crosswalks and bike routes—making the new medical centre inaccessible to any patients or workers who don’t have a car.
“We’re talking about a medical facility that is going to provide services for many people who live in the region, and we’re putting it in a location that is not accessible by walking, cycling or transit,” says Houssam Elokda, spokesperson for It’s More Than Buses.
The group says the province’s decision to put essential medical services in an industrial park undermines HRM’s own work over the last several years—including the Regional Plan, Centre Plan and Integrated Mobility Plan—to try and create accessible, healthy communities.
“It’s kind of confusing how a medical facility that is supposed to promote health is put in a location that is going to negatively affect the health of the people that go there,” says Elokda. “This is just the type of thing that encourages people to drive, encourages more carbon emissions and ultimately has an effect on our economy.”
Thursday’s press release from the province says 14 sites were considered for the new centre. McNeil told reporters that the Bayers Lake location’s close proximity to Highways 102 and 103 was a key factor in the final decision.
David Bell, a urologist at the QEII, was quoted in today’s press release as saying some patients can feel overwhelmed trying to navigate downtown Halifax traffic when visiting the Victoria General for outpatient services.
“The selection of this site is an exciting step toward providing more convenient, closer-to-home care, for Nova Scotians,” the doctor states.
McNeil also tells Kieran Leavitt with the Canadian Press that the province will work with HRM to improve bus service to the new site. But Elokda says even with a “further subsidy” of additional transit lines, Bayers Lake as an area is “as car-dependent as it gets.”
To illustrate its point, It’s More Than Buses put together two maps (shown at right) displaying travel times for residents without a car who have an appointment at the QEII (which will still provide some outpatient services), versus an
appointment at the new Bayers Lake centre. The maps factor in “excess journey time,” or the time wasted waiting at a bus stop.
“Putting a major facility that’s going to be funded by taxpayer money, that’s only accessible for a portion of the taxpayers, I think that becomes an equity issue,” says Elokda.
The province bought the 15 acres of undeveloped land from Banc Commercial Holdings for a price tag of $7.5 million.
The same property was only purchased by Banc from HRM four years ago. The company paid just over $9.3 million for the total 183-acre parcel at the time.
Related Stories
Clinic’s move to Bayers Lake is poor planning, a waste of public funds
Why Fairview is paying for Glen Arbour’s poor planning
A second opinion on tax reforms
The worst bus in Halifax
This article appears in Apr 20-26, 2017.
The criticism from the usual suspects is dead wrong. This facility will serve residents from the growing western and southern suburbs of HRM who currently have to battle our inadequate street network to get to the south end and then try to find parking. The argument that nobody will go there is belied by the massive crowds found in Bayers Lake every day. Sick people do not generally walk of bike to the hospital.
Yes! I agree with the previous post. How many people that I know going for a surgical procedure bike or get the bus? None. Most arrange for a drive even when they drive themselves because it is part of the recovery. There are other places throughout the city for people to have blood collection done. I have specialists that I visit all over HRM and do not have an issue making arrangements to make these appointments because I know in advance that they are needed. I think it’s great to have easy access off the highways, easy to access for everyone and not just the downtown people.
What would have been better was to keep it down town, so the many people who don’t have a car in the peninsula can get there in a reasonable amount of time, and focus on making parking available, which wouldn’t just help with this, but also making the city more desirable to visit.
This area is now the new Halifax anyways. Clayton park residents will be able to get there quicker than having to go all the way into the city and besides,,,you can see that they are developing the land for alot more than just this. In my opinion more people are living outside the city than inside and infrastructure can handle it alot more when they are finished with it.
Bayers Lake is a pain just to drive in. Larry Uteck would have been a better choice.
You can get there by bus. It just takes a great deal of time and energy. Which people don’t have when they are sick or have substance abuse or mental health problems. Which many intended users will have. This is a BAD idea.
Not quite sure I understand the argument here. Currently, residents in the west end don’t walk to the QE2 and have to choose between a long inconvenient bus ride or endless driving around to find parking, while residents downtown can walk, take a short bus ride, or fight for parking.
If this goes ahead, residents in the west end still won’t walk to medical services but they will have a short bus ride or a much easier time finding parking, while downtown residents can still walk, can still take a short bus ride, and would now have an easier time finding parking.
Calling Bayers Lake a “retail wilderness” is an ivory tower insult to a huge portion of this city. If you ever managed to pull your head out of your peninsula you’d realize the world doesn’t revolve around downtown.
I don’t know whether this is a good or bad project, but I do recognize a bad argument when I see it.
“The transit and planning advocates say the site currently has limited bus service, sidewalks, crosswalks and bike routes”
Yes, that’s because it’s not built yet…
I think it is a good idea to build this facility in Bayers Lake Park. There is easy access from all highways. I don’t know if there is limited bus service to this area now, but I am sure that this can be corrected in the future. Finding parking in downtown Halifax is an absolute nightmare and I think this will be an asset.
Those folks complaining it should be downtown obviously do not live outside the city. Try getting in or out of the peninsula to the VG or QE2. I think it’s a great location with parking.. buses DO go to Bayers lake and I’m sure will be adjusted so people in the west end can get there easily.
It is interesting that the province had no long-range plan for future site of facility, that Liberal HRM Mayor factored into discounted sale several years ago to Banc, and now provincial Liberals pay inflated price for land to Banc. Interesting indeed.
Not everyone who accesses QEII services lives in metro – it’s a referral centre for patients throughout the Maritimes many of whom prefer not to drive and park i the downtown area. Many QEII staff do not live on the peninsula so perhaps if staff are not parking downtown it will open up spaces for patients. Maybe putting the facility there will encourage better transit services.
This facility should have been developed years ago. This facility will serve people up o 50 km away. It is time to not to have to travel downtown. We should also have a major medical centre with patient beds built out there as we have more than enough medical centres in the downtown which only has the people of the Halifax peninsula being close to it. It is about time that the western part of HRM have such a facility. . Right now a lot of us have to go to Sackville to get away from the congestion of downtown. Besides once you get off the self important area of Halifax peninsula most people are using cars and with a major bus terminal on Lacewood Drive busing should be easily improved.
To Julie Fraser I assume you know that downtown Halifax as 15% or less of the population. The other 80% or more with their mental health problems, drug use etc are too far away so by your argument the downtown is the worst place to deal with these problems.