Macdonald Bridge to stay open during busy Tall Ships weekend

People hoping to catch a glimpse of the tall ships this weekend in Halifax will have an easier time getting there thanks to a decision to postpone work on the Macdonald Bridge.

The bridge will now remain open from Friday to Sunday evening as crowds gather downtown for the Rendez-Vous 2017 Tall Ships Regatta, which takes place from July 29 to Aug. 1.

Alison MacDonald, communications manager with Halifax Harbour Bridges, said the contractors involved in the multi-year Big Lift were willing to reschedule installing the second of four expansion joints to later in August.

"This does mean that we will be delayed by a week getting all the expansion joints in and we wish that we could stay away from all weekends in the summer but we have to get these in," said MacDonald.

Bridge will be closed for most of August

The bridge has been closed most weekends since the Big Lift project began nearly two years ago.

MacDonald said the bridge is scheduled to close or partially close most weekends in August, although it will be open for most of the Natal Day weekend. There are Natal Day events on Aug. 6 and 7 that will close the bridge for part of the day. 

The Macdonald Bridge was closed to vehicles last weekend during the Halifax Pride parade because Halifax Harbour Bridges "didn't find out that Justin Trudeau was coming to town in time to change any plans," said MacDonald. 

Traffic 'manageable' during Pride

The municipality put extra buses on the road, but there were no additional ferry crossings to accommodate the thousands of people trying to get to and from the parade. 

Still, Macdonald said the decision to keep the bridge open this weekend doesn't have to do with traffic challenges during the parade.  

"It was busy. It was steady, but from our perspective it was manageable," she said. 

The Macdonald Bridge's Big Lift project is still expected to be completed by late fall, said MacDonald.