Crossing the Macdonald and MacKay is going to be free earlier than expected.
Halifax Harbour Bridges (HHB) will stop collecting tolls on both bridges as of 5 a.m., March 17 -two weeks ahead of schedule.
Stephen Proctor with HHB tells our newsroom the ultimate goal was to have traffic flowing as freely as possible by the time April arrives.
“To do that, we have to take down the toll booths. To take down the toll booths there’s some point in which you have to stop collecting the tolls so that you can actually remove the booths.”
Proctor says this means that next weekend the Macdonald bridge will be closed as they start actually taking down the tolls.
“After we start the construction, we’re pulling out all the toll booths so there’s no way to collect tolls. It’s not fair to collect tolls on one bridge while the other is not. So, we just pulled tolls on both bridges.”
What will it look like?
Driving up to the Macdonald once tolls are removed, is not going to look dramatically different according to Proctor, except there will be no tolls.
“There’ll be fewer lanes…so there’s far less jockeying for a position for a toll. It’ll really be almost like you were just driving on a highway where you’ve got a number of lanes and you’re coming to an intersection, you have to decide where they’re going. Left, straight or turning right.”
Proctor says there will be three lanes in each direction with speed at 50 km/h, but he requests that you drive with caution.
“It’s going to be a new look and feel for people, even though it’s going to be really easy to navigate. People are going to need a second to say, ‘What’s going on here?'”
As for the MacKay, there are no details on what that configuration will look like just yet, but Proctor says that information is coming soon.
Bridge patrol
Halifax Harbour Bridges currently has ten bridge patrol officers, and they are moving up to 14.
Proctor says they will be monitoring traffic with their LIDAR (radar) guns.
“We don’t want to write tickets, but we want to make sure that people are following the rules. Creating the safest environment possible and creating the easiest flow of traffic that is possible.”
Although, he does expect some backups.
Taking the tolls down was part of Premier Tim Houston’s campaign promise and were originally scheduled for April 1.
