[Image-1]
UPDATE: Council unanimously approved the new plans at Tuesday’s meeting. This article has been updated to reflect that vote.
Big changes could be are coming to some of the downtown’s busiest streets.
A staff report before council on Tuesday recommends HRM move forward with the detailed design work and tendering process for a $16.7 million facelift on Argyle Street, Grafton Street and Spring Garden Road.
Potentially starting this summer, the section of Spring Garden Road between Queen and South Park will be recreated as a more pedestrian-friendly destination—with buried power and telephone lines, widened sidewalks and all new pavement. The upgrades also include decorative street lighting, new traffic signals and the removal of barrier curbs. Loading hours along that stretch of Spring Garden will also be limited to before 10am.
The staff report says the new streetscape would “link the Public Gardens and the Central Library with a distinctive and legible treatment that fosters a sense of place and a high degree of civic pride.”
Streetscape plans and construction tenders for a similar project were prepared in 2009, but fell through after insufficient funding. Those designs aimed to transform SGR into the Champs-Élysées or Las Ramblas of Halifax.
The list of improvements on Argyle Street (between Blowers and Prince) and Grafton Street (between Prince and Carmichael) call for the removal of barrier curbs, decorative lighting, street furniture, new trees, public art and “possibly overhead canopies.”
Those upgrades will also eliminate current requirements for bars and restaurants to construct temporary walkways when putting out a sidewalk cafe—meaning next summer could feature one hell of a patio season.
[Image-2]
“The project would transform these streets into dramatic public spaces that encourage people on foot to linger and enjoy the space, while still allowing access and loading by vehicles,” reads the staff report.
Originally conceived as a five-year, $50-million capital plan, the new streetscape projects were to be cost-shared with other levels of government. But the plans didn’t meet any federal or provincial eligibility for funding, so the municipality instead opted to forgo the cost-sharing and develop a business case for the upgrades all on its own.
The changes to Argyle and Grafton will get priority funding out of the $16.7-million pool. Staff estimate that will cost $6.6 million, provided cost-sharing options with the Nova Centre can be arranged (or $6.8 million without). Staff are also looking at whether the province can chip in on the Grafton Street component, as it’s a lot cheaper than the $7-million underground walkway from the Nova Centre to the Scotiabank Centre that was previously being considered.
Whatever funds remain (estimated at $10.1 million) will go towards the upgrades on Spring Garden Road.
Construction on the projects could be started as early as mid-August, to be completed in time for next spring.
Related Stories
Centre Plan takes centre stage
HRM development’s critical masses
Economy Shoe Shop joins legal action against the Nova Centre
The Economy Shoe Shop’s been sold
This article appears in Apr 21-27, 2016.
Wow… Bums provide character to a city and teach us hummanity. You yourself could be a bum someday.
the only city? in the world?
Halifax is nothing compared to other cities in terms of business & finance existing cheek by jowl with poverty.
Many of the people you see panhandling have mental health issues and have fallen through the cracks. We as a society have failed them. The others, well they get on my nerves. Trouble is, how do you determine which is which?
A good way to actively combat homelessness is to be involved in things that helps the problem instead of complaining self righteously on the internet.
I have a business on Spring Garden Road and for the most part, I like it there. The 6 people who ask you for money near my business are career panhandlers. Most of them are there daily and many have a Handler (pimp-like person) pick up their money several times a day. I have seen some of them meet the handler in a private area for what certainly appears to be a drug trade. Every one of the panhandlers is polite and respectful. I do not see any obvious mental illness except perhaps the depression/anxiety that most working people also have. If you give money to a panhandler, you are enabling this job where they basically work for a pimp for a percentage of their take and/or drugs. Could there be an exception? Sure but the 6 people who panhandle within 20 steps of my business every day appear perfectly capable of working at a normal job. One of the women dresses poorly for her work but on her days off I see her in a Canada Goose Jacket. I truly would love to have every single person walking on Spring Garden decline a donation to panhandlers. It is the one and only way for these people to move on.
SGR being compared to the Champs-Élysées or LaRambla / Las Ramblas is better at inducing mirth than laughing gas.