Spring Garden Road’s bus-only pilot project launches Monday

As of July 4, only transit will be able to drive down Spring Garden Road between Queen Street and South Park Street from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

CITYnews halifax \ Meghan Groff

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A one-year pilot project prioritizing transit, pedestrians and cyclists on a busy Halifax street is about to start.

Halifax Regional Municipality says its Spring Garden Road bus-only pilot project kicks in Monday.

As of July 4, only transit will be able to drive down Spring Garden Road between Queen Street and South Park Street from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Other vehicles — including delivery vehicles, taxis, and rideshares — will still be able to cross over Spring Garden on Dresden (northbound) and Birmingham (southbound), and also go north on Brenton Street to Spring Garden, but then will have to make a left hand turn when they reach the road.

Clyde Street will become two-way to help with traffic flow in the area.

Drivers can use Spring Garden from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m., but stopping will not be allowed outside of designated loading areas.

“On- and off-street parking (including accessible parking), as well as on-street loading, are located on side streets,” HRM said in a news release.

HRM hopes removing most of the traffic on the road, will result in a better experience for those walking, rolling, cycling, shopping, and dining,

“Spring Garden Road is a busy and vibrant street, with thousands of people that arrive there using Halifax Transit daily,” it said on its website.

“Bus-only lanes help to make transit more reliable. Less traffic means less noise, cleaner air, and a better pedestrian experience.”

Over the next year, the municipality plans to monitor the impact of the changes, including gathering feedback from pedestrians, transit users, businesses and their customers, along with tracking how many pedestrians are using the street.

The pilot project runs until next June.