Drivers are now navigating a new lane structure on the Mackay Bridge in Halifax after weekend construction removed the last of the toll booths.
“Since it opened at midnight, traffic has been flowing pretty well and there isn’t the speed we thought there might be,” says Steve Proctor with Halifax Harbour Bridges.
The tolls were officially removed as of March 17. Proctor says people seem to be understanding of the construction and are respecting the changes.
“It was two weekends to take down the Macdonald plaza and the traffic now, there has been fewer accidents for sure, the speed is up a little bit, there has not been that many commercial vehicles trying to cross when they shouldn’t, ” says Proctor.
Proctor says it’s too early to tell if speeding will be a problem on the Mackay Bridge, but he says so far people are taking a moment when passing through the area because it still looks like a construction zone.
Dartmouth resident Shelly Macdonald says she worries about speeding with the toll removal.
“I think people will take the bridge much faster,” says Macdonald.
The bridge commission has added more patrols to hopefully prevent speeding.
“We have gone from 10 people up to 14, so we have been able to add another shift and vehicles, we have in car monitoring right now, before we just had the lidar which you had to do from the toll plaza or some place convenient but now they can do it from a vehicle,” says Proctor.
Commercial vehicles are still not allowed on the Macdonald Bridge.
“We have not seen much of an increase in the trucks there, but we have seen some and have ticketed two in the last week or so but that’s not unusual,” says Proctor.
The fines for these commercial vehicles remain the same.
“First offence is $235 if a commercial vehicle is caught on the Macdonald Bridge and they may be turned around and my office looks out over the bridge and I am seeing them stopped and turned around all the time,” says Proctor.
“For the MacKay right now, in terms of speeding, when we catch a speeding ticket it’s just like the provincial criminal code, but this is right now classed as a construction zone so fines could double if people aren’t paying attention and we have to revert to that.”
Proctor said there could be bridge closures in May and later this summer.
“On the Macdonald Bridge you will see people in a painting capacity, that’s one thing. And on the MacKay there will be a closure or two mid-summer to replace some pieces and unsafe stuff. We don’t want to close bridges and we certainly aren’t going to try to close the bridges anymore as a result of the toll plaza but we are going to have to in May to reconnect things to get everything so it is as safe and efficient as it possibly can,” says Proctor.
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