General Updates and News

[Hali87]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Dedicating new lanes strictly for buses is a complete waste, possibly even worse than bike lanes. The lanes will be empty 99% of the time. That is hardly a smart investment.

Why would they be empty 99% of the time? A lot of buses use Bayers Road, and presumably MORE would if it were a designated bus-only corridor. This would also free up space for other vehicles in the existing lanes, and traffic flow would no longer be interrupted by buses pulling over (presumably).

If you took the bus I doubt you'd think of this as a bad investment.

[ILoveHalifax]

Originally Posted by Hali87

Why would they be empty 99% of the time? A lot of buses use Bayers Road, and presumably MORE would if it were a designated bus-only corridor. This would also free up space for other vehicles in the existing lanes, and traffic flow would no longer be interrupted by buses pulling over (presumably).

If you took the bus I doubt you'd think of this as a bad investment.

So we could re-route a whole lot of buses so they use Bayers Rd? I thought they went up and down specific streets to pick up and drop off people.
When I am on a bus I really wish it would take the most direct route without a lot of side trips thru bus terminals and around shopping centers, and up and down and all around the peninsula. If I wanted a tour bus they have them, usually for tourists.

[Wishblade]

I don't think this has been mentioned, but council approved the Main st. revitalization plan at the last meeting. Here is a quote from the article regarding the plans:

The plan permits buildings upwards of 12 storeys plus a loft to be built next to the Circumferential Highway on the south side of Main Street, up to eight storeys at the corner of Main and Hartlen streets and four storeys along the easternmost end of Lakecrest Drive.

A mix of residential buildings, including apartments and townhouses of no more than six storeys, would be allowed in the Main Street centre area, and next to that, development would have to transition from medium-density back to low-density residential neighbourhoods.

It sounds like its going to completely change things for the better. I live in this area so I'm pretty excited

Council OKs facelift plans

City hall has cleared the way for a revitalization of Dartmouth’s Main Street.

Halifax regional council voted Tuesday evening to give the street a Main Street designation, aiming to turn the commercial area into more of an attractive pedestrian-friendly town centre and attract new residential and commercial investment.

“This really is the centre plan … done in a suburban context,” said Coun. Jennifer Watts (Peninsula North).

Her colleague Coun. Darren Fisher (Harbourview-Burnside-Dartmouth East) called the plan “visionary.”

“The whole (idea) was to attract investment,” Fisher said.

The area includes properties bordering on Lakecrest Drive, Tacoma Drive and Main Street roughly from the Micmac Parclo to Caledonia Road.

The area currently boasts strip mall sprawl, punctuated by large parking lots. It caters to cars and is difficult for pedestrians and cyclists to negotiate.

Approval for the designation came after a short and mostly positive public hearing.

Tom Emodi congratulated city staff for their work and praised the initiative, which he predicts will “create a stable, mixed-use community.”

article: http://thechronicleherald.ca/metro/1153403-dartmouth-s-main-street-to-get-major-makeover

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Hali87

Why would they be empty 99% of the time? A lot of buses use Bayers Road, and presumably MORE would if it were a designated bus-only corridor. This would also free up space for other vehicles in the existing lanes, and traffic flow would no longer be interrupted by buses pulling over (presumably).

Even if a bus-only lane is empty some of the time (maybe even 99% of the time) it can be more much efficient than a car lane in terms of passenger capacity. The density of passengers per vehicle or per meter of roadway is much higher in buses and the buses are likely to move faster when they don't have to weave around cars.

It might be a bit counter-intuitive, but having one bus drive by every 2 minutes on a lane that is otherwise empty can amount to more capacity (maybe ~50 per minute) than the case where the lane is full with gridlocked cars with one person each (~30 per minute, i.e. one car every few seconds). With trains the difference is even greater. The Yonge subway line in Toronto has only one track in each direction and any given segment is free of trains most of the time but it carries around the same number of people as the gridlocked 12 to 16 lane 401 at rush hour.

[Keith P.]

Your math does not work. Even if every car had only one occupant, which is not usually true, in 2 minutes a lot more than 50 people would pass any given spot if the traffic was at least moving.

[Hali87]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Your math does not work. Even if every car had only one occupant, which is not usually true, in 2 minutes a lot more than 50 people would pass any given spot if the traffic was at least moving.

It depends how fast the traffic is moving. I've certainly moved less than 50 car-legnths in 2 minutes in heavy traffic before.

[someone123]

The point is that the difference in density between even dual-occupancy cars and full buses is really big. Not only are there more vehicles that take more space, there are also more drivers and there's more interaction between vehicles to slow everything down.

[JET]

if you are interested in old buildings; the Dartmouth Heritage Museum is having a tour of some Historic Houses in dartmouth on Sept. 28 and 29.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/homesnews/1155775-homage-to-history

[someone123]

ANS is reporting that pre-sales for the condo development on Barrington Street behind the Superstore are going to start in November.

A website is up but there are no renderings: http://www.southporthalifax.com/

Sounds interesting.

[hoser111]

Originally Posted by someone123

ANS is reporting that pre-sales for the condo development on Barrington Street behind the Superstore are going to start in November.

A website is up but there are no renderings: http://www.southporthalifax.com/

Sounds interesting.

Huh... could be something! Has there ever been any news on the expression of interest CN put out quite a while back for development of the CN lands at the train station???

[Dmajackson]

Signs up for a proposed development at 3400 Dutch Village Road (vacant lot at Joseph Howe Drive);


Photo taken by me

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by someone123

ANS is reporting that pre-sales for the condo development on Barrington Street behind the Superstore are going to start in November.

A website is up but there are no renderings: http://www.southporthalifax.com/

Sounds interesting.

That developer has done some good work in other cities--I think this is their first venture into Halifax? The website says the building will be "a nod to the city's rich shipping industry" and that it'll be "reminiscent of shipping containers, for an old-school industrial look that's new, urban, and unabashedly modern."

That could be really stupid looking, but it could also be pretty cool. Curious to see any preliminary renders. Hopefully no lighthouses.

[Jonovision]

Originally Posted by someone123

ANS is reporting that pre-sales for the condo development on Barrington Street behind the Superstore are going to start in November.

A website is up but there are no renderings: http://www.southporthalifax.com/

Sounds interesting.

They are going to be at this years VivaCity event hosted by Fusion Halifax on October 23rd at the Halifax Seaport Market. https://www.facebook.com/Fusion.VivaCity

If we don't see any renderings before this they will be available after.

[Jonovision]

I couldn't find a thread for it, but I was walking through Scotia Square yesterday and all of the cafeteria chairs had been moved out of the section that will be renovated with the new addition. Looks like things will be starting here soon.

[mcmcclassic]

There's a crane going up in Dartmouth around the Baker Dr. area (I saw it from the Portland Hills area). Probably just another cookie cutter Clayton Park style building, but I figured I'd mention it.

[Ziobrop]

Originally Posted by Jonovision

They are going to be at this years VivaCity event hosted by Fusion Halifax on October 23rd at the Halifax Seaport Market. https://www.facebook.com/Fusion.VivaCity

If we don't see any renderings before this they will be available after.

this one was released today on the Southport website
-Peter
Builthalifax.ca

[Dmajackson]

It looks like the Brunswick Street towers are getting a ground-level facelift.

Case 18848

Not perfect but nice modern ground levels for these buildings will help mask the ugly upper portions and attract more retail services to the residential area of North Downtown.

[teddifax]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

It looks like the Brunswick Street towers are getting a ground-level facelift.

Case 18848

Not perfect but nice modern ground levels for these buildings will help mask the ugly upper portions and attract more retail services to the residential area of North Downtown.

This is really needed as these buildings were never great looking.

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

It looks like the Brunswick Street towers are getting a ground-level facelift.

Case 18848

Not perfect but nice modern ground levels for these buildings will help mask the ugly upper portions and attract more retail services to the residential area of North Downtown.

This looks much better.

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by Ziobrop

this one was released today on the Southport website
-Peter
Builthalifax.ca

Very unique. It looks like corrugated steel for the container sections but I think the architect added just enough that it is interesting without being unattractive.