Ecology centre pushing for return of Northwest Arm ferry in Halifax

David Backman operated a ferry on the Northwest Arm for two seasons. (Source: Facebook/North West Arm Ferry)

Six years ago, David Backman, conducting his usual boat tours in and around the Northwest Arm in Halifax, noticed an uptick in traffic jams on the nearby Chebucto Road. At the time, CN Rail was rehabilitating a bridge on Quinpool Road, closing a portion of it to drivers and forcing them to find alternate routes to get on the peninsula.

For people who worked in the universities and hospitals in Halifax but lived in the Purcell’s Cove and Spryfield areas, the construction sometimes doubled or even tripled their commute time.

They ultimately turned to the water, and Backman, for a solution.

“There has traditionally been a ferry service across the water and I was approached by some people in the community about making some runs to get people over,” he said. “It snowballed and people got pretty interested.”

Backman ran the Northwest Arm ferry service for two seasons, ultimately winding it down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now the Ecology Action Centre is petitioning the Halifax Regional Municipality to reinstate the service – and introduce some new ones – to reduce traffic and help the environment.

“There is an increased focus on efficiently moving people and goods,” said Ashleigh Boers, senior transportation coordinator with the centre. “We should be out on the water.

“Waterways have always been travelled across, particularly on the Northwest Arm.”

Devon Smith, a student intern with the centre, presented a proposal to reinstate the ferry to the Transportation Standing Committee on March 27. The centre is asking the municipality for a full staff report looking at bringing back the service.

The proposal notes there were two ferry pilot projects for the Northwest Arm in 2001 and 2002, but neither materialized into permanent services.

Backman, who launched his Northwest Arm boat tour business seven years ago, said historically ferries would pick people up at the Dingle and take them to the Halifax side.

Backman wanted to take his ferry passengers from the Dingle to the Oakland Road docks, which were directly across from the tower, but the facilities there didn’t allow for it. He had to take passengers to the bottom of Jubilee Road, which extended his travel time and limited the amount of people he could take in a day.

“Without the of Oakland dock, we couldn’t get enough people across in an hour to make profitable,” he said. “We asked what we could do about grant money to upgrade the dock and it went approximately nowhere.”

The Ecology Action Centre’s proposal says the estimated costs for restarting the Northwest Arm ferry service include $100,000 for infrastructure upgrades, $15,000 for annual insurance and $25,000 per year to contract a boat company.

It further estimates that 120 boardings per day in a five-day week with a $4 fee would generate $62,400 per year. It would also get 60 cars off the peninsula.

“What is possible and feasible to get people out of the rotary?” Boers said.

Backman said he’s heard calls to restart his ferry service, but for now he’s focusing on his tour business. He notes a small company or group could make the idea work and be profitable.

“A ferry service is a great idea,” he said. “With a small investment from the city and province, you could have a viable service for the community.”

The Ecology Action Centre is also seeking a staff report on the viability of establishing new ferry services for Wrights Cove to Dartmouth, Wrights Cove to Africville and Herrings Cove to downtown Halifax, along with a temporary route of Bedford to downtown Halifax while the electric ferries and terminals are being built (that project is expected to be finished by the 2027-2028 fiscal year).

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