[Halifax] St. Pat's Crossing (6067 Quinpool) | ? m | 4x28 fl | U/C

[Dartguard]

Originally Posted by Antigonish

I agree 100% Mark. The most realistic alternative is having the HRM version of the last mile be car-oriented as a compromise. You could construct a park & ride at Main & Forest Hills Parkway and the BRT/LRT heads from there straight to the Dartmouth bus terminal and/or Alderney without any stops in between. Same for Lower Sackville, Bedford, Clayton Park/Fairview, Spryfield, Timberlea, MicMac, etc.

As long as a bulk of car traffic is removed from the inner core that's the best viable option. Once back out in the 'burbs commuters will disperse in every direction immediately from those terminals anyway. I'd go to the length of making parking entirely free at these locations (if you buy a yearly transit pass) to encourage people to at least mix car & transit together as their daily commute. The free parking option would save thousands of people thousands of dollars annually right up front. And "free" parking is an excellent marketing strategy.

The Portland Hills Transit complex works just like that. There is free parking for over 150 cars and the number 5 is an express bus to Scotia Square. I have taken that bus when going for drink and dinner in DT from Cole Harbour.

[worldlyhaligonian]

I believe these are new renderings, yet they look very similar to the previous design.

[Dmajackson]

Looks good to me.

They will be installing barriers next week on site. Construction is imminent.

[Colin May]

Can anyone name a city that has managed to eliminate the problem of bumper to bumper traffic in rush hour/s ?

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Colin May

Can anyone name a city that has managed to eliminate the problem of bumper to bumper traffic in rush hour/s ?

Japanese cities and even Tokyo are quite good. Astonishingly, traffic typically seems to move faster and more reliably on Tokyo streets and highways than in Halifax. Tokyo has high densities, excellent transit, and relies on toll roads, so most people take transit for most trips, but taxis and trucks can get around reliably. On top of this they have top notch intercity travel with the Shinkansen.

This development seems like it might help a lot since it concentrates population in an area that's walkable and easily served by transit. It's also close to many jobs and parks. Hopefully Robie will soon get BRT and that will be upgraded to LRT.

I don't love the look of the towers but I like that it has lots of density and a major commercial component. Hopefully Quinpool Centre can be redone after this.

[Keith P.]

Of course, public transit in Tokyo is infamous for quite literally packing people into subway cars like sardines, not a good place for claustrophobics.

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by Colin May

Can anyone name a city that has managed to eliminate the problem of bumper to bumper traffic in rush hour/s ?

The last few times I've been in Montreal, I've noticed that there is a greater quantity of traffic, but it moves. I wasn't sitting still, like is happening more frequently in Halifax. It may be that I was lucky enough to miss stopped traffic in Montreal. This is about traffic on the island/downtown. Not really getting in/out.

[kzt79]

Originally Posted by Colin May

Can anyone name a city that has managed to eliminate the problem of bumper to bumper traffic in rush hour/s ?

Halifax traffic is objectively bad. We are among the top 5 worst in North America (time to travel a given distance). We are actually THE worst when you consider our population (much smaller than the other slowest cities).

I wouldn't say other places have solved the issue, it's more that we are exceptionally bad. Just one more example of Halifax delivering "big city" problems without corresponding benefits.

[Keith P.]

The thing about Montreal is that the Autoroutes go straight through the city and generally keep moving. We have nothing quite like that on the Peninsula, and just the 111 on the Dartmouth side.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by eastcoastal

The last few times I've been in Montreal, I've noticed that there is a greater quantity of traffic, but it moves. I wasn't sitting still, like is happening more frequently in Halifax. It may be that I was lucky enough to miss stopped traffic in Montreal. This is about traffic on the island/downtown. Not really getting in/out.

The few times I've driven in Montreal it's been fairly arduous. I once spent nearly an hour on the Champlain Bridge. In my experience, all three of the big cities are noticeably worse for driving than Halifax. But Halifax is among the worst outside of those.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Of course, public transit in Tokyo is infamous for quite literally packing people into subway cars like sardines, not a good place for claustrophobics.

I know this is the stereotype and I've heard people who lived there say it happens but I didn't personally experience it on my travels there for a week or two, and apparently it's less common now.

To be honest, despite having taken lots of transit in big cities (NYC, London, Tokyo, Paris), the worst I've been in was Toronto, Vancouver, and even buses in Halifax sometimes. Some of that is due to timing and frequency but I think Canada is objectively bad. It's no surprise really when we have so little infrastructure development and so much population growth. I've been really surprised at how tame rush hour can be in large, busy world cities. I used to think little old Canada couldn't be so bad but we excel... at overburdened infrastructure. At least for a wealthier country.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by kzt79

Halifax traffic is objectively bad. We are among the top 5 worst in North America (time to travel a given distance). We are actually THE worst when you consider our population (much smaller than the other slowest cities).

It's not really surprising when you consider the significant population growth combined with approximately zero major infrastructure development in the core areas. The transit services and roadways are about the same in 2025 as they were in 2000. There's a bus lane or tweaked roadway here or there, but no new transit line or highway or anything like that, in a metro area that added 200,000 people.

There's also the geography which means that for a lot of people crosstown traffic basically must go over the bridges via the peninsula. The detour for the bridges is a 20 km drive around the basin (which is also congested).

[kph06]

Construction Management Plan for this is live on HRMs site.

[Saul Goode]

It's not entirely clear, but reading the construction management plan and Alex Halef's comments in allNS this morning, it appears they intend to build all four towers simultaneously.

Given market trends (and Banc's record), well...color me skeptical.

[Jonovision]

Funny how this and Bloomfield have excavation listed as both beginning in August 2025 and neither have begun. Banc has struggled with building on tower at a time. How are they going to manage 7 towers at once spread across two sites?!

[someone123]

Not sure about the developer but I wonder about the narrative of excessive new housing supply we've been hearing for a while now. People also keep talking about how Halifax population growth has tanked, but it still grew by something like 1.5% last year. There's still a huge housing shortfall relative to a decade ago which will only partly be filled by the current construction, and rents are still high by historical standards while vacancies remain low.

[kzt79]

Originally Posted by someone123

... At least for a wealthier country.

Not very many decades ago, Canada was truly a wealthy country. Top 5 in the world, and one of if not THE richest "middle class."

Today, we are a relatively poor "rich country" and seemingly trying our best to leave the club entirely, through a series of deliberate policy choices and self-inflicted wounds. I wonder if people will ever wake up to the idea that pretty much every citizen benefits from a rich country with a healthy productive economy, while everyone suffers under the poor country we are striving to become?

[kzt79]

Originally Posted by Jonovision

How are they going to manage 7 towers at once spread across two sites?!

There's absolutely no way.

[new2halifax]

Originally Posted by someone123

This development seems like it might help a lot since it concentrates population in an area that's walkable and easily served by transit. It's also close to many jobs and parks. Hopefully Robie will soon get BRT and that will be upgraded to LRT.

I know the answer is probably budget constraints, but how common is the "BRT first upgrade to LRT later" approach? Sounds like an inefficient and more costly approach than just build LRT from the start.

[new2halifax]

The construction management plan states 4 towers of 28 fl each. Perhaps a mod can update the title of the thread to reflect this?