HALIFAX NS:A bigger and and electronic Mac

The MacDonald bridge the most heavily traveled of two owned by the Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Authority is under reconstruction at the same time that it is upgrading its toll system. Each night at 7pm the MacDonald, a 40 year old suspension bridge over Halifax harbor is closed for construction. They are redecking, widening the bridge from 2-lanes to 3, and adding new bicycle and pedestrian lanes cantilevered off the outside of the existing structure.

The contractor in this tricky job is supposed to have the bridge open again by 5:30am each morning.

“He’s been 4mins late one day this week and 12mins another day but he’s also reopened for us half an hour early. So it’s OK. The effect on overall traffic and tolls has been negligible,” says Steve Snider CEO at the Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission (HDBC). The Commission’s MacKay bridge upstream catches the extra evening traffic.

The contractor, a joint venture of the German-based Walter & SCI and a local company has to completely remove 128 16’ long sections of worn-out 2-lane plus mixed bicycle/footpath concrete deck and to replace them with an orthotropic steel plate deck for 3 traffic lanes on the side spans. One deck panel is being replaced each night and the pedestrian and biker cantilever sections added progressively. At the same time work proceeds to modify the steel grid deck of the central span to accomodate the third lane inside the suspenders, and to add the cantilevered enviro/healthy lanes outside. This is part of a $37m project to add capacity to the bridge which carries over 30k veh/day on just a single lane each direction, causing major queueing during the rush hours. Since the traffic is tidal, the third lane being gained in the reconstruction will be reversed mornings and afternoons. 1500 people walk and bike each day over the bridge and the cantilevers each side will allow the heeled to be separated from the wheeled, adding to the comfort of each.

ET conversion

The Halifax-Dartmouth commission has a $3m contract with Sirit to add electronic tolling (ET) to the 21 toll lanes on its two toll plazas — the second one is a few miles upstream at the 4-lane Mackay bridge — using Amtech equipment. Currently all lanes are equipped with automatic coin machines that take coins or tokens. Some are serviced with toll attendants who help patrons with change but all tolls are thrown into the coin machine baskets. 60% of tolls are paid with tokens which are bought in rolls for 45c (C60c) compared to the 55c (C75c) cash toll. Transponders are going to be sold at cost to customers and they will be tolled at the same discount rate as tokens, which may eventually be phased out. ET is being launched this year.

HDBC is acting as the bulk purchaser for the Cobequid Pass and St John’s harbor bridge in New Brunswick, which hope to organize interoperable systems. HDBC recently sold $70m in 5.95% bonds to finance the projects and refinance some debt. Steven Snider the gen manager was pleased with the A+ rating they got which helped them get the low cost financing. (Contact Wendy Barnable 902 463 2800)

Dark cloud

The one dark cloud hanging over the future of the Halifax tollster is the dread logo litigation. MACPASS is the trade name it has adopted for its electronic tolling— evocative of the prefixes of its bridge names MacKay and MacDonald. Scuttlebutt is the Commission has accumulated a secret $10m+ warchest (It is NOT in their annual accounts) for the titanic legal battles to come with those fast food guys. But will this be sufficient if Apple computer, too, joins the fray?