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  #1  
Old Posted Apr 13, 2009, 11:51 AM
sdm sdm is offline
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Metro Transit - Dartmouth Bridge Terminal | Operational

Wheels in motion for new Dartmouth bus terminal
Project to sprawl onto city parkland
By PATRICIA BROOKS ARENBURG Staff Reporter
Mon. Apr 13 - 5:27 AM

It’s been a long wait, but a new bus terminal for Dartmouth is en route.

"We’re proceeding with plans to start building in the spring," Metro Transit spokeswoman Lori Patterson said Sunday.

The new terminal will replace the current one next to the Dartmouth Sportsplex near the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge.

A city website says the new terminal will be similar to but much bigger than the one at Portland Hills.

It will include: 16 bus bays, eight of which will be for articulated buses; an enclosed terminal waiting area; enhanced security measures; and the ability to accommodate low-floor buses.

Ms. Patterson was at home when contacted Sunday and didn’t have figures and exact dates at hand. But she said the "funds were in the budget since 2006 or ’07, and it was approved to go ahead."

Halifax Regional Municipality worked on the plans for about six years before the province hopped on board and amended the Municipal Government Act last November, allowing construction to extend over six acres of the Dartmouth Common, opening the doors for the project.

An estimated 18,000 commuters get on the bus at the Dartmouth terminal each day, Ms. Patterson said

Buses make between 1,200 and 1,400 daily trips to the terminal, said Dan MacDonald, president of Local 508 of the Amalgamated Transit Union.

"What people don’t realize is that with the (existing) terminal, we can only take so many buses per hour. With this new terminal, we’ll be able to . . . give transit the opportunity to be able to expand. That’s the big thing — expansion."

Expanding the terminal into part of the Dartmouth Common was a cause for concern among some residents, said area councillor Gloria McCluskey, who has supported building a new terminal.

The wooded area behind the Sportsplex, which will be part of the new terminal, is a "dirty area that’s always full of garbage," but she said the city "could’ve done better with their consultation."

"We have to have a place for residents to get on the bus and not everybody’s happy with it. It would be nice if we had another spot, but for now, it looks as though that’s the only spot we have."

The new terminal is going to be good for the union and for the people of Dartmouth, Mr. MacDonald said.

"It gives the people of Dartmouth the ability to get the service that they’ve . . . so longingly deserved."

The terminal is expected to open in the fall.

( pbrooks@herald.ca)
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  #2  
Old Posted Apr 13, 2009, 3:18 PM
ZET ZET is offline
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Gloria is also trying to get funds to fix up the field at dartmouth High. There is a meeting April 22 re the renovations at Dartmouth High. ZET
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  #3  
Old Posted Apr 13, 2009, 3:23 PM
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It's pretty bad that it takes this city 5 years to build a bus terminal. But on the upside at least we are getting it.
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  #4  
Old Posted Apr 13, 2009, 3:38 PM
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Waye Mason Waye Mason is offline
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Fixing Dartmouth High is an HRSB/provincial responsibility, I hope there is no talk of putting city money into it, except maybe the gym/auditorium if that will be made more accessable to the public like Citadel's.
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Old Posted Apr 13, 2009, 3:45 PM
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Good news. I was beginning to worry that we wouldn't see it this year. That bus terminal is badly needed. Still not a huge fan of the design though.
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  #6  
Old Posted Apr 13, 2009, 4:15 PM
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Here is the rendering for the terminal;

Bridge Terminal Expansion

And this was brought up on another thread but the Sportsplex is also being expanded to include som basketball courts at some point in time.
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  #7  
Old Posted Apr 14, 2009, 12:46 AM
ZET ZET is offline
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Quote:
Fixing Dartmouth High is an HRSB/provincial responsibility,
and that is the essence of the problem. Both parties point to the other as having the ball in their court and nothing happens. Is it just me being cynical or does the fact that the NDP cover Dartmouth in orange have anything to do with dartmouth High being ignored for so long. Citadel has already had more money for renovations while DH has been waiting for a fixup.

The $ that I mentioned per Gloria was realted to the sports field, which is a HRM responsibility.

re the rendering for the bus terminal I can't figure out how it is situated. Is the building at the top of the rendering the scotia bank on Wyse rd? ZET
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Old Posted Apr 14, 2009, 12:58 AM
terrynorthend terrynorthend is offline
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I really dont like he design of this terminal either. I have a feeling that its gonna be a big mess and bottleneck with the enter/exit at the west end, and a loop at the far end. Its a very long dock. I'd really liked to have seen something like at MicMac Mall where it slides up against the roadside.. with two-way traffic.. that works well.
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  #9  
Old Posted Apr 14, 2009, 1:02 AM
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Originally Posted by ZET View Post
re the rendering for the bus terminal I can't figure out how it is situated. Is the building at the top of the rendering the scotia bank on Wyse rd? ZET
Yes it is.

Wyse Rd is at the top, Nantucket is on the right.

I believe the buses coming from Wyse will use the same entrance they currently do and same for the Nantucket buses.

The crosswalk on the bottom right is the one in front of McDonald's.
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  #10  
Old Posted Apr 14, 2009, 1:39 AM
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Originally Posted by Bedford_DJ View Post
Here is the rendering for the terminal;

Bridge Terminal Expansion

And this was brought up on another thread but the Sportsplex is also being expanded to include som basketball courts at some point in time.
so whats the building on the top of that rendering?
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  #11  
Old Posted Apr 14, 2009, 1:50 AM
hfx_chris hfx_chris is offline
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That would be the existing Scotiabank at the corner of Wyse and Nantucket.

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Originally Posted by terrynorthend View Post
I really dont like he design of this terminal either. I have a feeling that its gonna be a big mess and bottleneck with the enter/exit at the west end, and a loop at the far end. Its a very long dock. I'd really liked to have seen something like at MicMac Mall where it slides up against the roadside.. with two-way traffic.. that works well.
I half agree. The Mic Mac terminal design works for smaller terminals with fewer routes servicing it, but for a terminal like this one you can't have buses clogging the side of a busy street trying to pull over and pull out into traffic, especially there where people fly up that hill off of the bridge so freaking fast. But I do agree it would be nice if the lanes in the terminal were a little wider, with additional space designated for out of service buses laying over. That's one of the problems with the current terminal, the side that the routes 51/53/etc use, that outside lane is always being used as a layover spot for out of service buses, so in service buses can't move. I know they've been trying to get them to layover on Thistle street, but it never fails that somebody always parks their bus there anyway.
It just doesn't seem like a lot of "wiggle room" in that drawing (it's not a rendering, looks like they used crayons) between the outside lanes where buses will undoubtedly be required to layover, and the bays where in service buses are embarking/disembarking.
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  #12  
Old Posted Apr 14, 2009, 2:16 AM
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Originally Posted by Bedford_DJ View Post
And this was brought up on another thread but the Sportsplex is also being expanded to include som basketball courts at some point in time.
The expansion is planned for after the canada winter games come and go. I think the date for construction was 2011.
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  #13  
Old Posted Apr 14, 2009, 1:34 PM
terrynorthend terrynorthend is offline
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Originally Posted by hfx_chris View Post
That would be the existing Scotiabank at the corner of Wyse and Nantucket.


I half agree. The Mic Mac terminal design works for smaller terminals with fewer routes servicing it, but for a terminal like this one you can't have buses clogging the side of a busy street trying to pull over and pull out into traffic, especially there where people fly up that hill off of the bridge so freaking fast.
That thought had crossed my mind too. But I think it would be workable if Nantucket was widened one lane to the south. A diamond lane that extends the whole length of Nantucket up to Victoria running alongside the terminal. Additionally, recess the docking bays on the north (streetside) of the terminal so the buses park clear of the diamond lane. There would be plenty of room for buses to merge in and out of traffic. Some routes could be re-arranged to continue east on Nantucket, and a service loop can be included to reverse routes back towards Wyse if needed.
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  #14  
Old Posted Apr 14, 2009, 3:01 PM
hfx_chris hfx_chris is offline
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None of the routes go up Nantucket though, so everything would end up looping back down to Wyse regardless.
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Old Posted Apr 14, 2009, 4:10 PM
terrynorthend terrynorthend is offline
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Originally Posted by hfx_chris View Post
None of the routes go up Nantucket though, so everything would end up looping back down to Wyse regardless.
I'm sure they could re-route a few. Number 10 could run up and turn left on Victoria, for example. Its about time they did an overhaul on the overall routing anyways, especially with the service expansion in the works that Metro Transit has indicated. Its always struck me as a very inefficient terminal because all the buses come from and exit to the same end (Wyse Rd). With this new terminal they still must do that, but with an even longer run up the whole length (half-way to Dartmouth High), loop around that narrow end and then all they way back down to Wyse, carefully negotiating other buses, pedestrians and Sportsplex traffic going every which-way.
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Old Posted Apr 14, 2009, 5:58 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ZET View Post
and that is the essence of the problem. Both parties point to the other as having the ball in their court and nothing happens. Is it just me being cynical or does the fact that the NDP cover Dartmouth in orange have anything to do with dartmouth High being ignored for so long. Citadel has already had more money for renovations while DH has been waiting for a fixup.

The $ that I mentioned per Gloria was realted to the sports field, which is a HRM responsibility.
Er, Citadel was the first new school in the old city of Halifax in 45 years, I think you need to review the facts. Don't covet your neighbours good fortune, etc. HRSB & DOE did engineering studies of DH, St Pats, QEH, PA and determined the worst needed work first. St Pats and QEH both being at their core 1930s buildings, that became the priority.

Don't get me wrong, if I was in charge I woulda renovated St Pats, PA and DH with the 30 million Citadel cost, and sold off QEH. The engineers said it would take 13-15 million to do St Pats. Imagine what 6-7 million each at PA and DH would do.

EDIT - as for the terminal, I just hope they put a full set of lights at the intersection on Nantucket, someone turning left into Sportsplex can murder the traffic situation during rush hour.

Last edited by Waye Mason; Apr 14, 2009 at 6:00 PM. Reason: forgot something!
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  #17  
Old Posted Apr 14, 2009, 7:21 PM
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Originally Posted by Waye Mason View Post
Er, Citadel was the first new school in the old city of Halifax in 45 years, I think you need to review the facts. Don't covet your neighbours good fortune, etc. HRSB & DOE did engineering studies of DH, St Pats, QEH, PA and determined the worst needed work first. St Pats and QEH both being at their core 1930s buildings, that became the priority.

Don't get me wrong, if I was in charge I woulda renovated St Pats, PA and DH with the 30 million Citadel cost, and sold off QEH. The engineers said it would take 13-15 million to do St Pats. Imagine what 6-7 million each at PA and DH would do.

EDIT - as for the terminal, I just hope they put a full set of lights at the intersection on Nantucket, someone turning left into Sportsplex can murder the traffic situation during rush hour.
Just as a side note for the school situation renovations for Dartmouth High were just announced today along with other school board stuff (see the "General Updates and News" thread).

As for the terminal I think they could easily incorporate an entrance at the top to Nantucket and reroute a couple of buses from Boland down Victoria and into the terminal.
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  #18  
Old Posted Apr 14, 2009, 10:45 PM
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I've never been a fan of removing existing service...
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  #19  
Old Posted Sep 11, 2009, 5:00 PM
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Alright, I've got to ressurect this thread. I go to the sportsplex terminal 5 days a week and I have yet to see any work to start on this. It's beginning to become quite apparent that the wheels are not in motion at all lol. Anybody hearing anything about this?
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  #20  
Old Posted Sep 11, 2009, 11:13 PM
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It's a HRM project, so expect some speedy progress on this over the next decade or so.
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