[Dmajackson]

Some excellent news out of the Burnside News this month. The Burnside Expressway has been needed for a long time. Funnelling all of the traffic from Bedford and Sackville and beyond onto a four lane highway with stop lights and a lower speed at the end is just not acceptable. Its not uncommon for traffic inbound to line up up Magazine Hill into Bedford all the way to Ridgevale Road. Being a resident of Eaglewood I can say that the traffic caused by this funnelling is absurd. Getting out of my neighbourhood at rush hour can take upwards of ten minutes on a normal day.

THe Expressway goes something like this (I'll see if I can find a map tonight);

From the 107/118 Interchange the new highway will stretch westward to north of Akerley Blvd. The existing Akerley Road will meet with the new highway in a half clover-leaf interchange. Burnside Drive will be extended northwards and intersect with the new highway in a half interchange. The highway will curve northwards towards Anderson Lake. The highway will pass east of Anderson Lake and intersect with Rocky Lake Road at Duke St (Glendale Ave).

This is spectulation on my part but I imagine the highway will be four lanes divided possibly with animal fencing (deer crashes are frequent on Magazine Hill and in Burnside). Construction will probably also include upgrades to Burnside Drive, Rocky Lake Road, Exit 4C on Highway 102, and the Duke Street/Glendale Ave corridor.

Burnside Expressway starts construction in 2011
BURNSIDE
STEPHEN CLARE
The Burnside News

The Nova Scotia Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal has finally committed to a route and timeline for the construction of the long anticipated, much delayed Burnside Expressway.

The Expressway, or Highway 107 Extension as the government prefers to call it, will connect through to Bedford’s Duke Street and Sackville’s Glendale Drive. The Expressway is expected to begin construction in 2011 and be completed within a 12-month period.

“Aside from a few minor snags, we have been moving in leaps and bounds,” says Dwayne Cross, senior highway planning engineer for the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal.

Cross points out that the first phase of the project is nearly complete.

“The design study has been broken down into three parts; the traffic component is finished and the impact study on Highway 102 is almost complete. However, we’re awaiting a cost-benefit analysis on the Highway 107 before signing off on the paperwork.”

The Expressway will be a vital link between Burnside and Bedford/Sackville and has long been considered by many as the missing piece in the Park’s infrastructure puzzle.

“There’s no doubt that folks have been waiting on this project for a very long time,” Cross admits.

The most recent announcement of the project came in a 2007 Speech from the Throne, under a loosely worded sub-section that will see an array of road work designed and developed across the province in the coming years. The Expressway has been identified as being a key component of the Atlantic Gateway Strategy, as it will help reduce truck congestion to and from both businesses in the Burnside area and the Port of Halifax.

The thoroughfare is also expected to ease traffic in and around the Magazine Hill district and provide faster access to and from the Park for both residents and workers.

“This is certainly going to make a big difference to people who commute into the Burnside area every day,” says Nancy Sweeney, chair of the Greater Burnside Business Association. “The traffic en route can be quite slow at times, especially when there’s bad weather.”

John McCormack agrees. The 45-year-old insurance agent drives to and from his workplace on Wright Avenue every weekday and has done so for nearly 15 years.

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been late for work because of the congestion of cars,” he says. “I leave my house in Bedford at 7:30 a.m. and sometimes I don’t make it into the office until after 9 a.m.”

Cross expects the new Expressway will change all that.

“Traveling time will be cut down for drivers coming in from Bedford/Sackville to about 15 to 20 minutes on most days,” he says. “Now people will have to come up with other excuses to tell their boss.”

Starting this February, Cross and his peers will be holding the first in a series of open-door public consultations about the project.

“I’m always amazed at how responsive and engaged people can be at these sessions,” Cross says. “Having them involved with the process is extremely important and we’re looking forward to getting their input