[Halifax] Hospitals & Healthcare

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by Phalanx

Regardless of demographics, whether it's in the city or out of the city, Bayers Lake is a terrible choice.

For those who are pedestrian oriented, there are only 2 bus routes that service it right now, and there are very few, if any concessions for pedestrians (no sidewalks off the main section of Chain Lake Dr, very few crosswalks etc). I work in an office near the BL Access Nova Scotia, and use the bus to get there. Every day there are hordes of people that have to dodge traffic to get across the street to get to and from this super inconvenient location. Again, no sidewalks, no crosswalks. If they're going to build it there, then they should be responsible for all the infrastructure required to make it accessible to people who don't have access to cars, either. Dedicated buses, sidewalks, etc.

Also, it's embarrassingly badly littered out there. It looks awful. Very few public garbage receptacles, two recycling facilities, a general lack of care... I mean, it's pretty bad everywhere, unfortunately, but especially in BL.

All of what you decry is the fault of HRM.

They created the BLIP.

They allowed it to become a retail big-box development.

They failed to upgrade the road infrastructure.

They failed to build sidewalks.

They failed to provide adequate transit.

They failed to provide adequate litter receptacles, cleanup, and other amenities.

Despite all of that, it is a huge success for most of the retailers located there.

I suspect if people need to go for a MRI there they will, just as they will go to Canadian Tire to buy what is on sale this week.

HRM has $50 million to spend on a palatial library and $15 million to spend on a skating oval that gets limited use. They have no problem building 4-pad arenas at $40-$50 million a pop. And let's not even mention the bike lanes that most residents do not want and get very limited use. But they cannot put sidewalks, litter receptacles, and proper roadways in the biggest business destination on the Halifax side of the harbor? This is what I mean when I go on about wasteful spending by HRM and their failure to focus on their core responsibilities.