Transportation

At the April 24 meeting, Entra Consultants explained the results of their study to date on the Park and Ride Express aspects of the Regional Transit Plan study. This plan still needs to be presented to and approved by HRM Council.
Overall Plan
The concept of express service along the Highways 102, 103 and 107 corridors to “downtown” was explained. At the presentation, “downtown” was not identified and it has yet to be determined to which downtown (Dartmouth or Halifax), the plan will refer. The original intent was to recommend that all three services commence at the same time but the proposal has been amended to starting up one service to determine any unforeseen problems then inaugurate the other two at a later date. No definite timeline was given and no service was identified as the potential first to start. Eventually there will be a phase two study to determine if there is a requirement for community feeder routes to the express service. The vehicles recommended for the routes are to be suitable for highway speeds and conditions.
Highway 102 Express Service
The proposed highway 102 express service would eventually include service from Enfield (with a future option from Elmsdale) via highway 102 to Fall River thence via Highway 118 to “downtown”. Within this portion of the plan, it was expected that the Fall River service would be inaugurated first with expansion to Enfield to follow when rider ship numbers proved the plan viable. Frequency of service would be high during morning and evening rush hours with limited service through the middle of the day. The plan called for inclusion of stops at Stanfield airport. For Fall River rider ship, the recommendation is to have a community pick up point somewhere near the center of the community (Sobeys mall area was suggested as a potential site) with a park and ride facility located closer to the highway 2/102/118 interchange complex.
Further Requirements
The first phase of the study has dealt with express bus service only and does not address perceived local or inter community bus service requirements. Nor does this study look at any other form of commuter transport service.
The subject of transportation will be one of the subjects addressed at the Neighbourhood and Community Development seminar to be held on Saturday 26 May 2007, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM in the Ash Lee Jefferson School cafeteria. To register for this event please contact Sharon at 490-4567
If you care to observe on this topic, or any other visioning subject, please direct your comments to:

fallriverclg@gmail.com