Suburban stuff

[bluenoser]

Bedford West gets partial go-ahead

By MICHAEL LIGHTSTONE City Hall Reporter

Bedford West, a proposed subdivision that’s to be built over the next four decades and house thousands of people, is a step closer to reality after Halifax regional council approved part of the multi-faceted project Tuesday night.

But the residential and business park development isn’t going ahead just yet. Council must still deal with subdivision bylaws and land-use rules that have to be endorsed by individual community councils.

Coun. Len Goucher (Bedford) said the planned project probably won’t be etched in stone for months.

"What we’re dealing with . . . is only the municipal planning strategy amendments to each (community) plan – which is the Bedford plan, the Hammonds Plains and the Halifax plans," he said. "That’s all we’re handling tonight."

Council voted to proceed with the development after a public hearing in which only four people spoke. One speaker represented Annapolis Group Inc., the largest landholder under the Bedford West concept.

Municipal planner Paul Morgan told the hearing the proposed subdivision, which is to have a suburban mix of housing, won’t have any height restrictions on apartment buildings or condominium sites. He said a planned "business campus" would not include big-box retailers.

Bedford West, situated on the west side of the Bicentennial Highway near Hammonds Plains and Kearney Lake roads, is to include such environmental elements as tree replanting, water quality monitoring and natural green spaces. Potential transportation links include a connection to the proposed fast commuter ferry at Mill Cove in Bedford or rapid transit buses going to and from downtown Halifax.

[bluenoser]

Oh, I forgot. The main reason that I bothered to post this is because of the part about "no height restrictions". Sweeet.

[Wishblade]

Oh, I forgot. The main reason that I bothered to post this is because of the part about "no height restrictions". Sweeet.

the only question is, how tall will they go?

[Jonestowncultinpicto]

well seeing that sotry I bleieve that planning in that area should include a piece of land for stadium development. If the provision could be made and a neyland stadium of knoxville tennessee could be started then a realistic stadium could be developed over time.
jim jones

[Haligonian]

They won't be putting a stadium out there.

I am not sure what they will build, but this parcel of land is quite large and the area around Bedford is where a very large part of overall construction in the HRM will take place in the future.

[skyscraper_1]

How many units is this development and does anyone have a outline of the area being developed?

[bluenoser]

Two reports with a bunch of info.. I didn't take the time to read the whole thing but they explain the whole thing in quite a bit of detail.

http://www.halifax.ca/council/agendasc/documents/10-1-14-iiCommunity.pdf
http://www.halifax.ca/council/agendasc/documents/10-1-14-iStaffReport.pdf

[Wishblade]

I read somewhere that the plan right now is for it to be a community accomodating 30,000 people.

[Keith P.]

I read somewhere that the plan right now is for it to be a community accomodating 30,000 people.

30,000 people? Wow! I'm sure glad we don't have any traffic problems on the Bedford Highway, the Windsor St. Exchange, or the 102 inbound in the AM. Otherwise adding that many people would be a disaster. But since no improvements to any of that infrastructure is planned, I guess everything is fine... :o

[Haligonian]

The area outside of the 102 can accomodate that much and the area inside can probably accomodate a similar number and is being developed as we speak.

There will be another interchange built along the 102 to take some pressure off of the Bedford Highway but the 102 itself is going to get pretty busy. What's sad is that we've got a rail line running right along the basin not very far from those areas that could be used for commuter rail.

[Black Slacks]

Speaking of the 102, I think it's about time for it to be expanded from four to six lanes between Bedford and Halifax. This would be hard in some areas but at the same time, some of the bridges along this route are already built to accomodate an extra lane on each side.

** In the long term (and this is getting off topic) it'd be ideal if the end of the 102 connected to the beginning of Barrington St. and North Barrington were properly widened and straightened out. **

Anyway, Bedford West shouldn't pose too much extra traffic for the Bedford Highway if it's on the West side of the 102 and provided they build a new interchange. As for the extra strain on the everything else, well you're likely going to get more strain no matter where you build a new subdivision nowadays, until access to the penninsula is improved.

[Keith P.]

I was thinking about the widening of the 102 today as I was crawling up the hill on the Joe Howe ramp behind the ever-present slow-moving trucks that use that entry. It occurred to me that the hill there is too steep for trucks and that it should be rebuilt with excavation to make the grade less severe. Then it occurred to me that if that was done, it would be feasible to go *under* the residential street alongside it at that ramp and add a lane in each direction. It really does need those extra lanes.

It would make way too much sense to build a connector from the Bayers Road end of the 102 to North Barrington. There are minimal land acquisition issues (comparatively speaking, it's mostly underused or vacant industrial land) and it would improve flow greatly. So it will never happen in this town.