A big snag for the redevelopment of a major bottleneck interchange in Halifax.
Halifax Council voted down 8-6, the latest design for the Windsor Street Exchange that was presented by staff, Tuesday.
The purpose of the new configuration would be to improve traffic flow, including a lane for vehicles to move freely between the Bedford Highway and The MacKay.
Council gave the green light, in June, but had concerns about transit and bike lanes and requested a change to the proposal.
Fast forward to this week, the operation was shut down mainly due to a budget that was going through the roof and the lack of bus lanes.
The original cited price tag in 2019 was $47 million, which has now skyrocketed to an estimated $150 million even $100 million more than last year.
The roughly $50 million in extra cost would fall on the shoulders of HRM.
No longer ‘makes sense’
Councillor Sam Austin says, because of the ballooning budget, the project no longer makes sense considering what changes would be made.
“What we have is a project that has grown five times the cost to us from where it started. Our proportion of this has increased significantly. We’re getting half a loaf on what we need to do transportation wise.”
He adds, it is wishful thinking if the motion passed, that the government would give them more funding.
“It’s kind of an odd negotiating position to say, ‘Dear province, feds…we’re going to do this project anyway…but out of the goodness of your heart could you chuck in some more money if it’s going to happen anyway?’ Why would they do that from a negotiating position? It’s basically just a gift.”
Austin says we are not yet ready, and the project should be shelved until a few years down the line to see what other opportunities come up.
Concerned
Councillor David Hensbee, however, was in favor of the project, and raised concerns about where to go from here.
“This being a signficant infrastructure project…a significant artery into our peninsula, not just for people but for goods as well. I think this is a very negative move not to go forward with it.”
Hensbee asked to revisit the issue, especially with three council members absent.
Now that council has scrapped the project, it means the municipality is rejecting millions of dollars in funding from Transport Canada under the National Trade Corridors Fund.
Roughly 100,000 vehicles drive through the Windsor Street Exchange every day.
