Spring Garden Rd Redevelopment

[someone123]

The whole street needs to be overhauled in a coherent way, from the Maritime Centre to at least South Park Street or preferably Robie. Now is an ideal time because there is so much other construction happening. Any public space in front of the new library for example should be tied in with the rest of the street. Now is also a good time to redo lighting if they are switching to LEDs.

Originally there was some kind of plan to do this but it got derailed by concerns over parking so now we have more indecision and half measures. Even if the parking was important it was not a valid reason to halt the whole planning process for years. Clearly other cities have managed to deal with this issue, because many of them seem to have executed one or more streetscaping plans. There are plenty of moribund rust belt cities with tumbleweeds blowing down main streets that are kept in better condition than the ones in Halifax. It's pretty sad.

[fenwick16]

The asphalt on concrete will stand out like a sore thumb. Surely there must be municipal maintenance employees who could dig up the broken concrete slabs and replace them.

Is this a temporary fix or something more permanent? PS: I just read a story in allnovascotia.com and it seems to be a temporary fix until the spring.

[halifaxboyns]

I remember this came up at one of the recent regional council season and Councillor Sloane was in a polite word upset (I would say ballistic is more like it).
She wanted answers and I don't think the acting city manager gave her the ones she was looking for. I can't recall if it was temporary - but she wanted answers. A few others from outside the downtown got up and basically were on her side too as I recall.

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by someone123

The whole street needs to be overhauled in a coherent way, from the Maritime Centre to at least South Park Street or preferably Robie. Now is an ideal time because there is so much other construction happening. Any public space in front of the new library for example should be tied in with the rest of the street. Now is also a good time to redo lighting if they are switching to LEDs.

Agreed. I would also find it very appropriate for this section of the downtown to have a distinguished style of lighting from that of Barrington Street.

Or perhaps Haligonians want Barrington's heritage contributes to carry over onto Spring Garden?

[kph06]

I can't see the asphalt being permanent. One thing that has made me laugh over the last year or so is the amount of white paint that is used to mark out sections of road and sidewalk that needs to be fixed. Sometimes it almost looks like the painter is trying to be an artist the way they highlight the issue, there would be chance of missing it. Another method of fixing sidewalks I've noticed popping up is in areas where the sidewalk has heaved a bit is the city just planes the concrete down till it is flat again – I don’t really like it. This would be the same as a dentist filing down the tips of a patient's teeth to make them look straight (which my moms says use to be common practice by some dentists).

[beyeas]

I agreed with the comment in AllNS that there is a valid fear that if they do the patching it will just move SGR further down the priority list in terms of an overhaul because they problem would have been "fixed". There is no doubt that of any street in the city, this one is top of the list (because of its sheer visability making it a bellwether) for a complete re-do with underground utilities etc.

[Jstaleness]

I saw this last night and I shook my head. The part about the markings on the sidewalks being jokingly called in as graffiti was proof that patching probably isn't the answer. I could see it working long enough to get past the Christmas shopping rush but anything longer is unacceptable. This is Halifax's richest shopping district and should look the part.

[halifaxboyns]

If it is temporary, it's probably because concrete requires prolonged temperatures above 6 degrees, if I recall correctly, in order to set properly. Where as ashphalt can set in place around 2 degrees.

[kph06]

HRM has a concrete deadline of September 30 (I think...) and asphalt deadline of (October 31, which can be extended depending on temperatures that year). After their respective deadlines, any asphalt or concrete that is put down in the HRM right-of-way is considered temporary and must be replaced in the spring (after May 1st). This effectively makes the construction season in HRM May 1st – October 31st, which is a bone of contention with most the local contractors as it makes the season shorter than in most Canadian cities, and therefore drives costs up (according to them).

Concrete can be poured year round; just special measures such as heat and shelter are usually added during the cold months, which make costs go up. My guess is it was too late in the season to fix these problems with concrete so they deferred the maintenance till the spring, using as.

[someone123]

So let's imagine you're sitting by a gate in the airport with a nice window looking out at the airplane you're about to board. They have a crane supporting one of the wings and a crew of maintenance people are frantically duct-taping the wing to the fuselage of the plane. Somebody goes up to the desk to complain and the attendant says apologetically that duct tape is their only option because the flight has to leave in 10 minutes.

This isn't about the concrete vs. asphalt issue. The root problem is that the sidewalk has been so poorly maintained for so long that it needs patching. The fact that there's no good solution at this late and sorry stage does not absolve those whose responsibility it was to properly maintain this obviously important street. I hope this problem pushes the city to do what it should have done a couple of years ago.