Halifax council Tuesday bit the bullet and agreed to spend $12.1 million on an expanded Bridge Terminal in Dartmouth. Previously, council had insisted it would stay within a $9.5 million budget for the project.
The expanded terminal is to be placed on Dartmouth Common land designated as park and was situated as to come very close to Dartmouth High School, an arrangement that angered neighbours and the school community—a one point, hundreds of students protested against the plan in a driving rain storm. (Disclosure: I live nearby.)
To win over community support, transit managers and the project architect, Troy Scott, then with Sperry Partners Architects, came up with a revised plan for the terminal: it would be reoriented away from school and beneath an intervening hillside, be reached via a pedestrian bridge from the uphill side and have elevator and stairway shafts reaching to the terminal below, providing a signature “lantern” effect above.
But when bids for the revised design came in $2.6 million over anticipated costs, city staff set to work to reduce costs by stripping the terminal of all the features added to win over neighbours. Council’s action Tuesday puts those features back in.
“I’m very pleased,” says a surprised Scott, who hadn’t heard the news. Scott wrote a dissertation examining Halifax transit in grad school and had hoped the terminal design would establish his professional reputation. He left Sperry in frustration over the down-graded terminal plan. “Sperry’s been very nice to keep me up to date with what’s been going on [with the terminal],” he says, but he now works with architect Mike Harvey, with hopes of working on larger projects.
The increased terminal costs will be recouped by delaying other, yet to be determined, transit capital costs over the next five years. Construction on the terminal should begin by summer.
This article appears in Feb 3-9, 2011.
And look who voted against it.
Stephen Adams, District 18 – Spryfield – Herring Cove
Bob Harvey, District 20 – Lower Sackville
Dawn Sloane, District 12 – Halifax Downtown,
Sue Uteck, District 13 – South End
Jennifer Watts, District 14 – Connaught – Quinpool
Mary Wile District 10 – Clayton Park West
Wow, sense a pattern here?
The nay-sayers found a common cause in the “Well not THAT many people showed up to say they wanted it, so it probably doesn’t matter”
Sloane started with some bizarre appeal to “Greener uses” that made no sense.
Uteck, The Millionaire’s Pal, bitched about higher taxes, but was quick to hiss about the new Shipping Container Library being for the greater good.
Harvey, Adams, and Wile were just craven looking to score ” Look, I done saved you money” points with their crowd.
I call Watts’ voting against this exceptional vile, given her “boo-hoo! Underserved downtrodden masses” spiel that she used to get elected.
How many of these brave guardians of the public purse voted against the OverBudget/Underpass?
It seems oh so easy to cut, cut, cut when it is Dartmouth that bleeds.
And hands up, how many of these fine folks use transit.
I thought so.
I can hardly believe they voted this way but I’m really happy they did. It’s so discouraging to see Council pulling their punches time after time by opting for the cheaper version that in the long run just isn’t up to the mark (e.g. the spanking new 25 metre pool at the Canada Games Centre on Lacewood will eventually prove to be another example of typical short-sightedness.) Anyway, THANKS from a Peninsula dwelling taxpayer.
They didn’t win any popular support.
This project was wrongheaded right from the get go, when they set up a 200 foot catchment area for possible locations for this new terminal, in relation to the old one.
I live in Dartmouth and I exclusively use transit… and I’m disappointed.
They could’ve done something fabulous to combine the terminal with the ferry terminal.
It is now, and will be in the future, a downtown kind of structure in the middle of nowhere.
The bridge area has never been Downtown Dartmouth, and never will be, it is a hell hole. A hinterland designed to allow cars entry and exit to and from Halifax in the fastest possible time. Not with safety in mind. And certainly not with human beings in mind.
There is acres of city owned land used as parking lots right next to the Ferry Terminal.
Yet here in Halifax we’d rather reward local construction firms and engineers with generous tax payer funded contracts for projects that were wrongheaded right from the get go.
They wouldn’t need to build a Kiosk if they built this at the Ferry Tmerinal, there is several businesses within blocks of the ferry terminal…
Why not inject pedestrian-ism (transit) in a pedestrian friendly place (Downtown Dartmouth) vs. a barren vesicularly inspired wasteland (the bridge terminal) which, no matter how many flyovers, underpasses, elevators, and $13 million transit terminals the city builds, will still be unsafe and awkward.
It is shocking, even for this bumbling council, to make such a vision-less move.
Five years from now, when we look back at this project (which will actually end up costing north of $15 million once all the Councillors who voted for it get their kickbacks from the firms involved in construction)… This place will still be a dangerous eyesore, and a cesspool.
Thanks for nothing Halifax Council, you bunch of no nothing fuck wads!
Sincerely,
A very angry Dartmouthian who looks forward to turfing you fuckers on your keister next time around. Can’t happen soon enough.
Dartmouthy,
“which will actually end up costing north of $15 million once all the Councillors who voted for it get their kickbacks from the firms involved in construction”
Fuck you.
Right back at ya Luthor
Wow. I am incredibly surprised and incredibly happy. Transit is actually getting some of the love it deserves. I’m a little disappointed in Watts though. I expected better from her.
And dartmouthy, how many times do we have to go over the location thing? Why the fuck would they put the terminal in any place other than the convergence of the most routes possible? How is there any sense in diverting the Halifax to Burnside bus through three extra traffic lights that will result in an extra 6 or 7 minutes on the route? The ferry terminal is already well-integrated to the bus system. It’s not like it’s hard to go from the ferry to the buses. To move the terminal down there would be moronic.
This terminal will put Dartmouth on the map and is a major tourist attraction for visitors who want to see the most expensive bus terminal in the world.
Will Mayor Kelly be sending details to the Guiness Book of Records ?
Interesting.
http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/rsmean…
Almost as moronic as your thought process hipp5
WELL ACTUALLY IT’S 2 LIGHTS TO ALDERNEY ITSELF – AND ONE MIGHT THINK A NEW LIGHT WOULD BE ADDED TO ALLOW THE FLOW OF BUSSES ON THE FAR END OF THE ‘PARKING LOT’ MAKING FOR AN ADDITIONAL LIGHT OVERALL.
AND HOW MANY BUSES CAN FIT IN THE TRANSIT PRIORITY LANE – 1 MAYBE 2 – AND RARELY DO THE BUSES I TAKE USE THAT LANE ANYHOW! IT’S A FUCKING NIGHTMARE OF TRAFFIC BEFORE YOU EVEN GET TO YOUR ONE LIGHT WITH PEOPLE TRYING TO TURN LEFT DURING RUSH HOUR UP PAST THE SPORTSPLEX. IT WOULD ADD TIME TO THE SCHEDULE AND BE MORE THAN FRUSTRATING FOR PEOPLE TRYING TO GET ACROSS THE BRIDGE TO SPEND AN EXTRA 20 MINUTES JUST TO MAKE THE DOWNTOWN DARTMOUTH PEOPLE HAPPY.
I TOO LIVE IN DARTMOUTH AND LESS TRANSFERS ARE PREFERRED BUT SERIOUSLY THE WORLD DOES NOT REVOLVE AROUND YOU OR ME, THINK GREATER GOOD FOR A CHANGE INSTEAD OF JUST YOURSELF.
I stand corrected, it’s two lights. I was picturing the crosswalk at the bottom of the hill as lights in my mind. Regardless, as funnygirl points out, the left turn at the top of the hill is a nightmare. As for the transit signal, it’s only for MetroLink buses and even then it’s only useful if there aren’t more than five or six cars waiting at the light; any more than that and the line of cars blocks access to the transit priority lane. And it still doesn’t change the fact that you would be adding extra time onto a number of routes for absolutely no reason. There is already a mini terminal at Alderny. You’d also be taking easy bus access away from the high school and from an area that has a number of lower-income residents (and thus bus users).
Woah~! Dartmouth is going to be transformed into Second Life/Sim City
Sign me up!!
If I type all in capital letters and make nonsensical comments about people thinking abou themselves when they are in fact thinking about the greater good of the community, do I get bonus points? LOL
No wonder we have a vision-less and direction-less council. Our citizenry isn’t much better.
If all you can do is think of the problems presented, and can’t instead think of creative solutions to overcome those very simple problems you have mentioned, of which there are many, then I feel sorry for you.
It is two lights once you hit Ochterloney. There is only one light between the bridge and Ochterloney, and that is at the intersection with Windmill.
Because of the site – acres of city owned land along Alderney Drive – chances are the busses would have to pull in before they hit Ochterloney.
They could re-align Alderney Drive with Wyse Road so that it is one straight line once you get past the commons. This should be done anyway, that is a congested intersection (since it is a three lane stretch between a four lane stretch, Alderney, and a six lane strecth, Wyse Road).
The city in their infinite wisdom ripped it all up in the past six months and repaved it, but failed to take that opportunity to improve traffic flow.
Downtown Dartmouth, whether you like it or not, is the centre of Dartmouth. Not the bridge terminal.
The majority of routes go up the Portland Street corridor – so for the most part this wouldn’t affect any exsisting routes.
But did any of you know – that Metro Trnasit can change schedules? They can change routes? They can add, remove or modify these things in any way they choose.
They are not written in stone, unlike your narrow imaginations.
Sure Metro Transit can change schedules and routes, but why would they? I count 18 routes that now go to the bridge terminal, and only 8 of those go to Alderney. According to Google Maps, this would add 6 minutes (return) to the 10 routes that don’t, and that’s assuming no crazy rush hour traffic. On a system that already struggles with the automobile for convenience I see no reason to add 6 minutes onto 10 routes for… what? So ferry riders can easily get to buses? Oh wait, they already can. I see no indication that people in Downtown Dartmouth have any trouble getting on a bus as it now stands. Removing the bridge bus terminal would make it very, very difficult for many residents and students in bridge area to get on a bus, while not making it any easier for downtown residents to do so. Sure you could realign the roads and screw with the routes, but for what gain?
Well you can count routes, yes, but those Portland Street corridor busses are 15 minute interval busses, packed with riders – soon to be every ten minutes. There are way more riders going up the Portland Street Corridor than any other corridor from the bridge.
It wouldn’t screw anyone – there is a bus stop right in front of the school! There are bus stops all over the bridge terminal area! They could have a cut in along Wise Road with a little covered shelter that would more than satisfy those poor souls and students you refer to.
All the while, in the next ten years, developers plan to add 3500 new residents to Downtown Dartmouth… who will be waiting outside in the elements for a bus – oh, sorry, they will be driving to Downtown Halifax in their cars.
Name a successful city, where the city’s main transit terminal is a 15-20 minute walk from the downtown area?? I can’t think of any, only in this bumbling burg would they choose the status quo over another solution.
I’m not saying Downtown Dartmouth is the only, or the best option. I just would’ve liked to see it studied.
There were a lot of strawman arguments trotted out by Dartmouth Councillors during the debate on this project – Councillors flat out lying, saying the woods behind Dartmouth high are unsafe, they are full of needles and that murders occur there! lol.
I lived just down the hill on Wentworth Street as a kid growing up – I mean, it’s not smart to walk through any woods in the middle of a city late at night, but I’d never had any problems there. The paths going through those woods follow the original commons plan of the 1800s… It just seems like a waste to me.
Especially when the province has to bury stealing common land within a 185 page budget document to get it passed. The whole thing stinks.
I love Downtown Dartmouth. Downtown Dartmouth is Dartmouth’s downtown. Not the bridge, not Westphal, not Burnside. We should be focusing our efforts on developing key infrastructure that supports downtown, because without it, Dartmouth has no identity left.
Urban planning 101 really – which I guess is why the planners of this city see fit not to change a thing.
In a competition of “evils” I think an extra 800 meter drive on the bus, vs. revitalizing a whole neighborhood… no brainier to me anyway 🙂
Perhaps we should move the Scotia Square terminal to the bridge in Halifax too, since it seems to “work so well” for Dartmouth…
We would save lots of time kilometers and fuel that way wouldn’t we.
As a resident of car centric Southern California I can only agree that a transit terminal needs to be near the heart of a city. Our politicians are so corrupt and in the pockets of the unions that we don’t even have mass transit from our airport to the center of city. Intelligence should top money concerns as well as political sway from companies that line the pockets of polititicans. http://buildsitepro.com/home.asp