What to do about ‘confusing‘ Halifax intersection? City looking at options

A Halifax intersection has long caused confusion and congestion.

As tourism season heats up, more people will be travelling to Halifax.

That could lead to some increased congestion at one of the city’s more confusing intersections, where Windsor Street, Chebucto Road and Cunard Street meet.

“I see confusion by a lot of people who aren’t familiar with the intersection,” says Douglas Ward, a Halifax resident of 15 years. “They’re stopping in the middle of it and holding up traffic and they’re getting somebody to beep their horns at them to get them moving.”

While many locals understand the offset intersection, it’s not the easiest to understand if you’re unfamiliar with it.

“It’s pretty confusing,” says Joel Evans, who lives nearby. He’s witnessed “a number” of near misses over the years.

“A lot of the traffic gets stuck,” he says. “People are so worried about getting through the light, they forget about the pedestrians.”

In his 16 years of living near the intersection, Mike Grimbly says that he hasn’t seen anything dangerous, rather just frustration.

“It holds up traffic as opposed to ‘it’s dangerous,’ in my mind,” he says.

But he describes a standoff-like approach for some who struggle to navigate through.

“That’s because you have people coming from (two directions), and they don’t know exactly how far to pull up to make a left-hand turn, and they’re waiting for the other group and they’re waiting for the first group,” Grimbly explains.

“It’s certainly an unorthodox type of layout, that’s for sure,” he says. “Because I’ve been here a long time, I understand how it works.”

But a local salon owner fears that a new 79-unit apartment building that’s under construction at the corner of Windsor Street and Chebucto Road will only add to the chaos.

“I’m just worried about the new building going in,” says Jason Gilbert, owner and operator of Jãs, “how the traffic is going to flow through there.

“It’s bad now the way it is. I don’t know how it’s going to be with the building there.”

CTV News spoke to a couple of other businesses who declined an on-camera interview, but one said turn signals would help alleviate the confusion, while another predicted a roundabout could help in the future.

In an interview Friday afternoon, a Halifax Regional Municipality spokesperson says staff are aware of the challenges some people face navigating the intersection, and they’re working towards improvements.

“Short-term improvements would come as part of completing the AAA cycling network,” says Jake Fulton, a public affairs advisor. “Staff are looking into longer-term improvements, maybe more significant improvements.”

Fulton says a staff report is due to city councillors later this year.

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