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Patience is running thin over traffic delays on Peggys Cove Road, with drivers waiting hours to get to their destinations.
The traffic delays are being caused by two road projects happening at the same time in the Upper Tantallon, N.S., area. The province is paving part of Peggys Cove Road and the Halifax municipality is paving a nearby section of St. Margarets Bay Road.
“Yesterday, I decided to go out for a coffee at Tim’s and lunch at 12 p.m. I got there at 2 o’clock. It normally takes 10 minutes. It took me two hours,” James Darley, a Seabright resident, told CBC News in an interview on Thursday.
Darley said he would have been caught up in the traffic snarl even longer if he hadn’t eventually driven past a flagman stopping vehicles.
“So I sat there for 20 minutes and watched opportunities go by one after another when we could’ve gone and he just stood there. I just went around him and finished. Otherwise it would’ve been more than two hours.”
Darley said the problems have been ongoing for more than a month. It’s also affecting school bus times.
Delays, missed appointments
“We are writing to acknowledge recent delays with some of the buses serving the Bay View High family of schools,” said a letter the Halifax Regional Centre for Education sent out to families on Thursday.
“The delays have been caused by significant construction in the area, as well as intermittent bus driver shortages.”
The letter said the education centre’s contacts with the municipal government “assure us that the construction is close to an end,” and that work is also being done to recruit new drivers.
‘This is impacting people’s lives’
Liberal MLA Iain Rankin, who represents the Timberlea-Prospect area, called traffic delays on Peggys Cove Road an annual problem. He said Public Works isn’t coming up with solutions.
“HRM and the province don’t speak together — whether it’s this project or getting traffic lights, there is a total breakdown in communication between those two and Public Works has a big communication problem,” Rankin said.
He said he’s also heard of people missing doctor’s appointments and families not being able to pick up their kids on time from school.
“This is impacting people’s lives,” he said.
Rankin said the problem is magnified because the work on Peggys Cove Road is being carried out close to its intersection with St. Margarets Bay Road where there are heavier volumes of traffic.
“There is a challenge when you’re repaving to try to keep your queues down, but they should be below 15 minutes and they’re amounting to a half-hour, 40 minutes and this is a problem.”
‘Short-term pain’
Public Works Minister Fred Tilley called the traffic delays a “short-term pain” that should be over in a matter of weeks.
He said the traffic issue is being exacerbated by the two simultaneous road projects.
“Once that construction is complete, it’ll be a beautiful road for the travelling public,” Tilley told reporters Thursday.
“We understand and appreciate the short-term pain with regards to construction there. Paving should be complete within two weeks and then hopefully the project will be another week after that.”
Municipality responds
The Halifax municipality also acknowledged its roadwork is causing delays.
In an email, it said it is working with the contractor to manage traffic and finish the project as efficiently and safely as possible.
“This repaving will help maintain the quality and safety of this important roadway, and every effort is being made to minimize disruption during construction.”
The municipality said it is working with the province to “avoid compounding traffic impacts where possible.”
The municipality said most of its work should be finished by Saturday, weather permitting. It said other work such as line painting and “other less disruptive activities” will continue for another week or so.
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