Highway 107 Upgrades (Burnside Expressway) | U/C

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Is Bedford Bypass supposed to be opened up for development after Burnside Connector's tied in???

What do you mean? It would be converted from controlled access to an artery with some streets connecting to it?

I'm not against highway development but one thing I notice around metro Halifax is how the highways have very low connectivity with huge gaps between exits and encourage low densities and large travel distances by cutting everything up. There is a lot of new development land around the 107 but it looks like more "pods" that will be weakly connected to other areas. I think the municipality should focus not just on urban infill but suburban infill in the future to improve land use, and part of that will be improving connectivity and raising densities to support more than just driving.

[Dengler Avenue]

What does TIR mean then? I saw 2 lots with that label on the NE side of Bedford Bypass. I think I also saw "Residential Developers Road"?? The font's too small for my eyes.

[Mr. Hunt]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

What does TIR mean then?

Nova Scotia Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal.

[Dengler Avenue]

Okay now it gets me wondering. Is it possible for Burnside Connector to change "terminus" on the west side? That's the idea that swimmer_spe got hung up on.

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

NSDOT has the habit of doing it wrong the first time then correcting it later.

So it goes like this:
(1) Redo 101, 102 and Bedford Bypass area;
(2) Widen 101 - Bedford Bypass to 6 lanes between Lower Sackville and Bedford;
(3) Tie Burnside Connector to the now widened Bedford Bypass;
(4) Scratch the current western terminus.

[q12]

Looks like the tender has been issued to start the Bedford/Sackville section:

RFC - CLEARING, ONE PROJECT IN HALIFAX COUNTY - HIGHWAY 107 SACKVILLE BEDFORD BURNSIDE CONNECTOR, ROCKY LAKE TO HWY 102 (PROJECT NO. 2020-225)

https://procurement.novascotia.ca/te...d=DOC581958976

[Dmajackson]

This photo was taken from where Highway 107 WB turns currently turns into Akerley Blvd. The overpass will be Akerley Blvd and will include the eastern on/off ramps for Highway 107 into Burnside. This interchange will be open well before the rest of the highway. This is so Wilkinson Avenue can be connected to the highway network and Halifax can start developing the Burnside Phase 13 & 14 expansion lands to the north. According to a Memoradum of Understanding between HRM and NSTIR this interchange was due to open by the end of 2020. The current deadline is probably the end of the 2021 construction season.


Halifax Developments Blog (Photo by David Jackson)

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

This photo was taken from where Highway 107 WB turns currently turns into Akerley Blvd. The overpass will be Akerley Blvd and will include the eastern on/off ramps for Highway 107 into Burnside. This interchange will be open well before the rest of the highway. This is so Wilkinson Avenue can be connected to the highway network and Halifax can start developing the Burnside Phase 13 & 14 expansion lands to the north.

It appears TIR and HRM continue their infatuation (or maybe it's enduring love by now) with roundabouts. If I'm reading the MOU correctly, Wilkinson will connect at a roundabout somewhere to the left of the overpass in your photo, correct?

[Dengler Avenue]

It seems that T.I.R. needs to blast rocks. Once rock blasting is needed, one may as well go big and blast a bit more to make roundabouts.
(Someone in the road industry taught me that once crews need to be sent to blast rocks, the amount of rocks to be blasted simply becomes a problem of economy of scale.)

[Mr. Hunt]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

It appears TIR and HRM continue their infatuation (or maybe it's enduring love by now) with roundabouts. If I'm reading the MOU correctly, Wilkinson will connect at a roundabout somewhere to the left of the overpass in your photo, correct?

https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/sho...&postcount=182

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by Mr. Hunt

https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/sho...&postcount=182

Yes, I've seen that plan. The point of my post was that I was trying to relate it to Dmajackson's photo.

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

It appears TIR and HRM continue their infatuation (or maybe it's enduring love by now) with roundabouts. If I'm reading the MOU correctly, Wilkinson will connect at a roundabout somewhere to the left of the overpass in your photo, correct?

Yes. I believe the mound of dirt to the left is where the eastbound on-ramp for Highway 107 will be located. The top of this ramp will have a roundabout for the Akerley and Wilkinson intersection.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

It appears TIR and HRM continue their infatuation (or maybe it's enduring love by now) with roundabouts. If I'm reading the MOU correctly, Wilkinson will connect at a roundabout somewhere to the left of the overpass in your photo, correct?

I often think they got a really good deal on a bunch of roundabout parts that are sitting in govt warehouses and need to be used up, so they build them everywhere despite how hated they generally are by the public.

[PEI highway guy]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

I often think they got a really good deal on a bunch of roundabout parts that are sitting in govt warehouses and need to be used up, so they build them everywhere despite how hated they generally are by the public.

Living on PEI, they are building 3 to 4 a year. A major one will be built at a bottleneck intersection in Summerside this summer. the design makes little sense and no one is sure how bikers/walkers will be able to navigate the area.

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

...they build them everywhere despite how hated they generally are by the public.

They are generally hated, and I'm not sure that's justified. I don't hate them and have no problem navigating them, provided the other drivers are following the one single simple rule of yielding to those already in the circle.

They have legitimate application in some places but now appear to be popping up all over, like expensive mushrooms, in places where their utility is dubious at best.

[Haliguy]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

I often think they got a really good deal on a bunch of roundabout parts that are sitting in govt warehouses and need to be used up, so they build them everywhere despite how hated they generally are by the public.

Really not sure why anyone would hate them. I wish every major intersection had one. So much better than waiting for a red light!

[OliverD]

Originally Posted by Haliguy

Really not sure why anyone would hate them. I wish every major intersection had one. So much better than waiting for a red light!

They're not appropriate at all intersections but they do work really well in many scenarios.

One opened fairly recently at a very busy, rather awkward signalized intersection in Fredericton. It has virtually eliminated congestion there.

[Dartguard]

Originally Posted by OliverD

They're not appropriate at all intersections but they do work really well in many scenarios.

One opened fairly recently at a very busy, rather awkward signalized intersection in Fredericton. It has virtually eliminated congestion there.

I have driven through that roundabout many times and you are right it has made traffic flow including large transport trucks keep on going. Traffic used to jam up horribly on Regent Drive in that area because of the former closeness of two sets of lights.

[Mr.Zero33]

The smaller diameter Roundabouts like the one in Fall River are terrible and dangerous. The larger ones like Middle Sackville and Milford seem to work well.

[Haliguy]

Originally Posted by Mr.Zero33

The smaller diameter Roundabouts like the one in Fall River are terrible and dangerous. The larger ones like Middle Sackville and Milford seem to work well.

Not sure I agree. I don't know about the one in Fall River, but the ones by the Halifax Common work very well!

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Mr.Zero33

The smaller diameter Roundabouts like the one in Fall River are terrible and dangerous. The larger ones like Middle Sackville and Milford seem to work well.

There is a double lane "dogbone" roundabout at the Dieppe/Harrisville Blvd interchange with Highway 11/15 here in Moncton. The diameter of the roundabout at the on/off ramps from 11/15 are pretty tight. Normally it works pretty well, but Harrisville/Dieppe Blvd connects the Caledonia Industrial Park in Moncton and the Dieppe Industrial Park in Dieppe, and truck traffic is pretty heavy. Given the tight turning radius of the dogbone, anytime an 18 wheeler goes through, it occupied both lanes of the roundabout.



This is pretty well known in Moncton, and we have adapted, and are cautious entering the roundabout whenever a tractor trailer is going through, but this could be a surprise for non residents navigating the interchange. I'm surprised I have never heard of any accidents here.