Some Halifax commuters had to alter their routes Monday, as the second phase of a plan to change traffic patterns in the downtown rolled out.
On Monday, Lower Water Street, between Terminal Road and George Street, was converted to a one-way street heading north. The change was the second phase of a plan to change downtown traffic patterns and free up space for parking, bike lanes and other amenities.
Parts of several other downtown streets—Blowers, Market, Sackville, George and Granville—became one-way on Sept. 19, while part of Grafton Street became two-way.
Dave McCusker, manager of traffic and transportation services for HRM, said traffic has been running smoothly so far. HRM planned the changes over a period of several years, seeking input from community members and local businesses. Because of that, McCusker said, commuters and business owners knew what to expect.
Still, CTV reported Monday night that some drivers missed the new traffic signs and tried to turn south onto Lower Water Street. (at the 16:20 mark)
Paul MacKinnon, executive director of the Halifax Downtown Business Commission, said he’s compiling feedback from local business owners about the changes, and plans to meet with McCusker to review it.
MacKinnon said many business owners were mostly excited about the changes, especially since the plan includes room for up to 80 new parking spaces.
MacKinnon said some people were inevitably upset when the changes first happened.
“But by week two,” he said, “they’ve all figured out their alternate routes and they’re not upset anymore.”
McCusker said some downtown business owners were worried about losing nearby parking spaces, but he hasn’t received many complaints.
“Most of them were pretty satisfied and the ones who were concerned were willing to wait and see what happened,” McCusker said.
McCusker said he’s sent crews to watch traffic on streets that commuters have reported being busier since the switch, including Argyle and Barrington Streets. But, he said, the traffic engineers hadn’t noticed any major problems.
McCusker said the purpose of the changes isn’t to ease traffic congestion, but to keep the same levels of traffic while freeing up space for amenities like parking and bike lanes.
“It’s intended to create new opportunities,” he said.
Still, commuters noticed that traffic on Lower Water Street was moving more smoothly Monday afternoon than it did before.
Commuter Billie McDonald said the changes hadn’t affected her driving route, but she had noticed that traffic was lighter.
“Things are moving a lot better than they usually do at this time,” McDonald said.
The final change to the traffic pattern will be to Hollis Street in March. The street will remain one-way southbound, but HRM will remove parking spots on the right side of the street to create a new bike lane.
While space has been created for bike lanes on several downtown streets, including Lower Water Street, the lanes haven’t been painted yet.
Not quite there on bike lanes
Scott MacPhee, a board member of the Halifax Cycling Coalition, said he’s glad to see plans for more bike lanes, but said the lanes should connect to other cycling routes. Many of the city’s bike lanes don’t connect with others, he said, and many parts of HRM’s bike plan haven’t been implemented yet. MacPhee said he wished the new bike lane on Lower Water Street would continue farther north toward the MacDonald Bridge and the North End, instead of stopping at Sackville Street as it’s planned to.
“There’s good things about this but there’s still a lot of faults,” MacPhee said.
“Lower Water is a prime cycling route,” he said. “They’re doing a good thing with making it one way.” Another advantage of the downtown traffic plan, he said, is that the new bike lanes on Lower Water and Hollis will be on the opposite side from the parking spaces, so cyclists won’t have to worry about getting hit by opening car doors.
McKinnon said he’s mostly heard feedback from the business owners, though he’d welcome comments from anyone. Residents, commuters or anyone else can tweet their opinion using the hashtag #streetchanges.
Drivers in the downtown area seemed satisfied with the changes.
“I’ve had to change my route to and from work, but if it helps traffic, that’s good,” said Robert Hingley as he walked to his car Monday afternoon. Having more parking downtown is “always good,” he added.
Claire Michalewicz is a Halifax-based freelancer.
