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  #61  
Old Posted Oct 14, 2012, 5:22 AM
fenwick16 fenwick16 is offline
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The following story was on the Oct 12th, 2012 edition of HalifaxNewsNet.ca. Here is the HRM Request For Proposals (RFP) - http://www.gov.ns.ca/tenders/pt_file...rs/P12-082.pdf.

Quote:
City calling for proposals on redevelopment of Cogswell Interchange

Published on October 12, 2012

HRM is taking the next step towards the future redevelopment of the Cogswell Interchange by issuing a call for proposals for a detailed technical analysis of the site.

“This call for proposals is an important next step in moving forward on the highly anticipated design and implementation plan for the future redevelopment of the Cogswell Interchange site,” said Mayor Peter Kelly. “The Interchange lands are a key opportunity site in downtown Halifax, and how and when it is reconfigured will set the tone for downtown Halifax for decades to come.”

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(full story at http://www.halifaxnewsnet.ca/News/20...-Interchange/1

Last edited by fenwick16; Oct 14, 2012 at 12:16 PM.
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  #62  
Old Posted Oct 15, 2012, 2:53 AM
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I think the RFP is important. In the past many of the studies related to Cogswell were quite narrow and dealt with either maintenance costs or traffic. Had some of the old road proposals been implemented they would have been awful, but now it looks like it might be possible to really get an extension of the downtown. I also think the time is better now since so much existing land is being consumed right now; in 5-10 years it will be a good time to open up some new lots.

I hope they consider opportunities to tie in development with adjacent properties like Scotia Square and the triangle lot, as well as the need for an improved downtown transit terminal.
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  #63  
Old Posted Oct 15, 2012, 5:41 PM
Halifax Hillbilly Halifax Hillbilly is offline
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I hope they consider opportunities to tie in development with adjacent properties like Scotia Square and the triangle lot, as well as the need for an improved downtown transit terminal.
Took a quick look through the RFP: transit terminal is in there, but there is also a note saying don't assume adjacent lots will change to fit the Cogswell Plan. So adjacent lots are out by my reading.

The good is we are moving forward with this, finally. The study area is bounded by the Harbour, and includes Cogswell St. up to North Park, and Barrington Street from Duke to Cornwallis. Good study area, no need to just stick with the interchange proper.

One thing I don't like is 35% of the proposal score is based on budget. It's usually a much smaller component (5-15%) of the scoring. The technical solution proposed is only worth 25%, by comparison. With such a large, open-ended project I imagine bids will vary quite a bit on this RFP. A really great technical proposal could lose over a relatively small amount of money, giving the scope of the entire Cogswell demo and redevelopment project. Seems like the wrong place to try and save money. You could also have a low proposal come in, win the job, and ask for more money down the road.
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  #64  
Old Posted Oct 15, 2012, 6:11 PM
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The report mentioned in one part that "developed lands" will not be significantly modified. I can see why they wouldn't want to tie, say, an overhaul of Scotia Square in with the Cogswell plans. However, sites like the triangle lot at the end of Granville are pretty much unavoidably linked to this plan and the owners of those sites would be foolish not to get involved in this planning exercise. Hopefully the owners of developments like Purdy's Wharf and the waterfront hotel (Marriott?) will at least be interested in redoing some of the landscaping by their buildings.

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Originally Posted by Halifax Hillbilly View Post
Seems like the wrong place to try and save money. You could also have a low proposal come in, win the job, and ask for more money down the road.
Another concern is alluded to in the report: "new land uses and how they will strategically support the long term economic functions of downtown Halifax". It is hard to quantify but I think this indirect effect on a large part of the downtown could have a much larger impact on the city's bottom line than a few million saved when demolishing the interchange.

It is great to see the transit terminal in there. I hope the city is willing to "think big" here and consider options like putting transit and maybe cars underground. Without some more creative solutions I don't think they'll actually get much out of the land in this area, because cars and buses still need to get into the rest of the downtown core.
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  #65  
Old Posted Oct 15, 2012, 9:32 PM
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I hope the city is willing to "think big" here and consider options like putting transit and maybe cars underground. Without some more creative solutions I don't think they'll actually get much out of the land in this area, because cars and buses still need to get into the rest of the downtown core.
I think having transit and cars underground would be vital to making this area a success, if the developers want to utilise as much space as possible for commerical, office, and residential units.

It would be incredible if these hypothetical developments would follow Purdy Wharf's lead, and perhaps take some inspiration from King's Wharf, and build onto the water (if this is possible?) !!
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  #66  
Old Posted Oct 15, 2012, 11:09 PM
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I think having transit and cars underground would be vital to making this area a success, if the developers want to utilise as much space as possible for commerical, office, and residential units.

It would be incredible if these hypothetical developments would follow Purdy Wharf's lead, and perhaps take some inspiration from King's Wharf, and build onto the water (if this is possible?) !!
Well considering a significant porition of the cogswell lands are actually fill they technically will be building onto the water.

Maritiot Hotel, Purdys, Historic Properties, Waterside Centre, north east corner of 1801 Hollis and even the triangle lands are developments that required pile foundations.
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  #67  
Old Posted Oct 16, 2012, 3:12 AM
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Well considering a significant porition of the cogswell lands are actually fill they technically will be building onto the water.

Maritiot Hotel, Purdys, Historic Properties, Waterside Centre, north east corner of 1801 Hollis and even the triangle lands are developments that required pile foundations.
Alright...
Aside from the technicality, I'm meaning a development actually going to the water's edge and building there, like the second Purdy's Wharf Tower.
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  #68  
Old Posted Oct 16, 2012, 3:43 AM
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I think having transit and cars underground would be vital to making this area a success, if the developers want to utilise as much space as possible for commerical, office, and residential units.
If they just go with surface streets there won't be much development land to spare. It probably won't be very pedestrian-friendly either because of the high traffic, and the hostile street-level design of the existing buildings will make it even worse.

If they do bury the traffic, on the other hand, Historic Properties and some nearby blocks could become a great area. Granville Mall for example could open up onto a plaza with an underground transit terminal connected to, say, a big mixed-use tower on the International Place lot. The narrow section of Lower Water by Morse's Teas could be made pedestrian-only, creating a pleasant link between the new transit terminal to the ferry. Or maybe some better scenarios would be possible.
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  #69  
Old Posted Nov 12, 2012, 1:23 AM
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I think at 17,000 seat arena attached to the casino would look really nice in that vacant space. I say 17,000 because for some events, it allows the capacity to be greater, and it give Halifax an arena to maybe someday have an NHL team. Other then adding to the Metro Centre, this is the ONLY open piece of land big enough to house a new arena, while keeping it downtown. I was also thinking it would be a good place to have a tunnel across to the end of highway 111 rather than at the other end of the city where it is farther out of the way. Having the tunnel start here, next to a new arena, the casino, and almost in the core of downtown, would mean a lot less backed up traffic. Also think of the jobs it would create. Spending a billion dollars to build a tunnel and probably 150 million on a new arena. By the time the whole thing is over you'd be looking at injecting probably a billion and a half dollars into the Halifax economy without even leaving downtown.
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  #70  
Old Posted Nov 16, 2012, 1:09 AM
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correct me if im wrong but this yes should be gone but this should be something the heart of downtown gives blood too. Halifax honestly before it's too late needs to grow this from the interchange to a maga highway before its too late, For say new devolpment is going to speed up our traffic its going to slow us down. This needs to be addressed, and also its like when theres one accident on one bridge it plays a key role on the whole city than the whole city is going for the new bridge its just one big mess. I can say the best highway if not the best in all HRM is the 3-4 going to and from the airport and the main highway going to main street portland street etc and also that needs improvements. When in Toronto I seen little mini bridges going under a road or over top is that to keep the flow of traffic moving? and if somebody could lets see some maps of your thoughts where maybe even an elovated highway could go know I dont have dreams of Halifax being a mini Chicago but something needs to come up before it's too late. Our very old city and growing up if you can see
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  #71  
Old Posted Nov 16, 2012, 1:16 AM
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  #72  
Old Posted Nov 16, 2012, 1:18 AM
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  #73  
Old Posted Nov 16, 2012, 2:18 AM
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You must be new here. You're not allowed to advocate for any change to Halifax's obsolete 1940s road network. Do so and you are shouted down by the bus/bike/trail special interests who oppose any alteration to the roads that might improve traffic flow. In fact HRM is actively considering narrowing the existing cartpaths that make up much of its road network in order to create bike lanes that nobody except a tiny but loud minority will ever use.
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  #74  
Old Posted Dec 9, 2012, 2:27 PM
fenwick16 fenwick16 is offline
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For the recent RFP on the Cogswell Interchange design study, quite a bit of information has been compiled on the halifax.ca website - http://www.halifax.ca/RealPropertyPl...terchange.html. (I wonder if a group has been chosen to conduct the study?)

Some interesting images were presented on the halifax.ca website in pdf form. I uploaded them to imageshack and posted them below.

Shown below is an interesting illustration; it shows an overlay of the current and past street grid: (source: drawn by Danbi Lee at HRM Capital District, http://www.halifax.ca/RealPropertyPl...ridOverlay.pdf )




Three possible street grids have been shown in a pdf file drawn by HRM Staff - http://www.halifax.ca/RealPropertyPl...tsJuly2012.pdf. I have put all three pages side by side and posted the image below:



In my opinion, the HRM Staff proposed street grid looks like the most practical.
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  #75  
Old Posted Dec 9, 2012, 2:42 PM
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I agree, HRM staff's model looks best.
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  #76  
Old Posted Dec 9, 2012, 3:32 PM
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Honestly, I think the best and most obvious option is to to re-establish the old street grid, or something close to it, and rebuild a neighbourhood there--Barrington as commercial spine, with housing and other uses elsewhere. Avoid creating long superblocks, unfriendly to pedestrians, and re-urbanize this suburbanized part of the peninsula. (So, I like the HRMxD best.)

For those who think Halifax is too hung up on its heritage (though our cavalier approach to preservation gives the lie to that) it'd be an opportunity to create an all-new, completely contemporary urban community. A totally unique architectural and planning opportunity.
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  #77  
Old Posted Dec 9, 2012, 5:29 PM
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The HRMbD street layout is ridiculous - about half the buildings in the area would need to go. It's Fillmore's own Harbour Drive proposal.

The idea of recreating the street grid might sound appealing, but don't overlook what you are going to give up. Traffic flow will be significantly impaired.
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  #78  
Old Posted Dec 9, 2012, 5:36 PM
ILoveHalifax ILoveHalifax is offline
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I have no qualifications but if you start with the image by HRM staff and you put a street on the south side of the large rectangle going west to east you would have a complete rectangle. If that were a one way rectangler to the right you you would reach the rectangle and turn right to go around the rectangle, similar to a traffic circle. Inside at least 4 or 5 towers with lots of retail at street level and lots of courtyard, plaza, park, greenhouse, space between the towers
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  #79  
Old Posted Dec 9, 2012, 5:52 PM
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Obviously the HRMxDesign one is impossible.

I think the HRM staff one could be tweaked, but it looks like it will make certain key areas like Granville Mall and where IP will be very walkable.
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  #80  
Old Posted Dec 9, 2012, 6:43 PM
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The HbD one is a bit less disruptive than it appears. I don't think they'll be tearing down the casino, but there are already plans in the works to redevelop the Trade Mart building and it is not hard to imagine a redevelopment of buildings like the Purdy's parking garage. It makes sense to overhaul that area since it was originally designed with the highway in mind rather than other buildings and streets.

I still think that in order to get the most out of the redevelopment of Cogswell the city will have to consider new infrastructure like maybe a tunnel and a multi-modal transit hub.
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