Angus L. Macdonald Bridge | |
|---|---|
.jpg) The Macdonald Bridge in July 2015. | |
| Coordinates | 44°39′49″N 63°35′05″W / 44.6637°N 63.5846°W |
| Carries | Motor vehicles, pedestrians, and bicycles |
| Crosses | Halifax Harbour |
| Locale | Halifax Regional Municipality (Halifax — Dartmouth) |
| Official name | Angus L. MacDonald Bridge |
| Other name(s) | Macdonald Bridge The Old Bridge |
| Maintained by | Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission |
| MMSI | 16261 |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Suspension bridge |
| Total length | 1.3 kilometres (0.81 mi) |
| Width | 11.5 metres (34.8 feet) |
| Height | 102.9 metres (337.69 feet) |
| Longest span | 441 metres[citation needed] |
| Clearance above | 54 metres (177.25 ft) at centre-span |
| Clearance below | 46.9 metres (153.87 ft) at centre-span |
| History | |
| Designer | Philip Louis Pratley Henry Hugh Lewis Pratley Charles Nicholas Monsarrat |
| Construction start | 1952 |
| Opened | April 2, 1955 |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 44,000 (2012) [1] |
| Toll | CA$1.25 cash/$1.00 MACPASS |
| Location | |
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The Angus L. Macdonald Bridge is a suspension bridge crossing Halifax Harbour in Nova Scotia, Canada; it opened on April 2, 1955.
The bridge is one of two suspension bridges linking the Halifax Peninsula to Dartmouth in the Halifax Regional Municipality.
It is named after the former premier of Nova Scotia, Angus L. Macdonald, who had died in 1954 and had been instrumental in having the bridge built. The bridge was designed by Philip Louis Pratley, one of Canada's foremost long-span bridge designers who had also been responsible for the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver.[2] The bridges have a similar design, which is most notable in the towers. The contractor was Dominion Bridge Company Ltd.
The bridge regularly experiences traffic congestion during rush hours as a result of the structure's proximity to the downtown cores of Halifax and Dartmouth, as well as its narrow width. Large commercial vehicles are not permitted to cross and must use the wider MacKay Bridge to the northwest. Public transit buses are allowed to cross and the bridge links several Halifax Transit routes. In 2014/15 the average number of vehicle crossings per month was 1,183,095.
As of January 3, 2022 the toll charge to cross for regular passenger vehicles is $1.25 cash or $1.00 with the MACPASS electronic toll system.[3] The original toll, when the Macdonald opened in 1955, was 40 cents plus 5 cents per passenger. There was also a separate toll for trucks, cyclists, pedestrians, motorcycles and horses/rider.
- ^ "Racy 'Bridget' campaign aims to reduce traffic on Halifax bridges".
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-07-20. Retrieved 2006-01-26.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Cooke, Alex. "Tolls to rise for Halifax Harbour Bridges, 1st increase in a decade". Global News. Retrieved 5 February 2022.