So my early reports were confirmed in today's newspaper.
Plans are in the works for another bridge or tunnel to South End Halifax by 2016 at a cost of $1.1 Billion dollars. Couple that price tag with an increase in construction costs, environmental impacts, maintenance, and interest on financing, and then how much does it really cost? I'm no expert, but I'm willing to bet that one could make a state of the art upgrade to our transit system that would be less expensive and probably would recoup money over the long term. More buses, more hydrogen/hybrid buses (apparently 2 are coming), and restrictions on one person per car during peak times would start dealing with this uncontrolled traffic growth. Maybe something like London's restrictions would be appropriate.
The article even suggests appropriation as the likely way that this bridge and its approaches would get started. That's probably the good news. The houses bordering the "cut" in South End Halifax house some of the wealthiest people in the city. Are they going to give up their backyards and limited traffic area for on-ramps and daily commuter congestion? I have a sneaking suspicion that the wealthiest people in Halifax won't be part of the city's next Africville.
Anyway, it's fun to scoop the local paper by 12 hours... :)
1 comment:
Jason wrote (via Facebook):
Just a comment on the solution that London implemented. I was in London last summer, and I can assure you that automobile congestion has not been reduced with the implementation of the congestion zone within the city. Most business owners I spoke with felt that it was hurting the small businesses that need a car (or cars) for things like deliveries. A company with a small fleet of cars for doing local deliveries needs to pay 5 pounds per day, per car. That's about 12 bucks, every day, per car. At first many cars stopped coming into town but now everyone has gotten used to it. You'd think that the price of gas over in the UK would be a limiting factor on its own, but honestly, when gas costs over two dollars a litre, an extra 12 bucks a day isn't going to matter.
Halifax needs a rail system around the Bedford Basin. The Windsor exchange is insane in the morning.
A dedicated commuter lane on the busier streets, better bike paths, and a conversion to hybrid/hydrogen buses are definitely good things, too.
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