A. Murray MacKay Bridge
Encyclopedia
The A. Murray MacKay Bridge locally known as "the new bridge" is the second suspension bridge
Suspension bridge
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. Outside Tibet and Bhutan, where the first examples of this type of bridge were built in the 15th century, this type of bridge dates from the early 19th century...

 linking the Halifax Peninsula
Halifax Peninsula
The Halifax Peninsula is a community and planning area located in the urban core of Halifax Regional Municipality in the province of Nova Scotia. Halifax Peninsula is home to Downtown Halifax, the financial and economic heart of the region, which was also the site of the original settlement and...

 with Dartmouth
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Dartmouth founded in 1750, is a community and planning area of the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. Located on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour, Dartmouth has been nicknamed the City of Lakes after the large number of lakes located in the city.On April 1, 1996, the provincial...

, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

, and opened on July 10, 1970.

The A. Murray MacKay Bridge measures 1200 m (3,937 ft) with the total of all suspended spans being 739.9 m (2,427.5 ft) in length, carrying four traffic lanes with posted speed limits of 70 kilometres per hour (43.5 mph). Pedestrians and bicycles are not permitted on the A. Murray MacKay Bridge; they may use dedicated lanes on the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge
Angus L. Macdonald Bridge
The Angus L. Macdonald Bridge, locally known as "the old bridge", is a suspension bridge crossing Halifax Harbour in Nova Scotia, Canada; it opened on April 2, 1955....

 instead.

As of April 1, 2011, the toll charge to cross for regular passenger vehicles is $1.00 cash or $0.70 with the MACPASS electronic toll system (60¢ tokens were once used but are no longer accepted as of May 1, 2008). Larger vehicles have higher tolls proportional to the number of axles. The Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission is exploring the idea of moving entirely to electronic tolls to avoid handling tokens or cash. The A. Murray MacKay Bridge is the only harbour bridge which permits semi-trailers and large trucks.

The bridge is named after Alexander Murray MacKay, chairman of the Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission
Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission
Halifax Harbour Bridges is the operating name of a Nova Scotia provincial agency legally named the Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission responsible for operating, maintaining, and constructing bridges over Halifax Harbour between the Halifax Regional Municipality communities of Halifax and...

 from 1951 to 1971 and past chief executive officer of MT&T. MacKay was instrumental in having both the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge
Angus L. Macdonald Bridge
The Angus L. Macdonald Bridge, locally known as "the old bridge", is a suspension bridge crossing Halifax Harbour in Nova Scotia, Canada; it opened on April 2, 1955....

 and his namesake structure built during his tenure at the commission.

Africville controversy

A major political controversy preceded construction of the MacKay Bridge when the city of Halifax expropriated residents from the community of Africville
Africville, Nova Scotia
Africville was a small community located on the southern shore of Bedford Basin, in the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. During the 20th century, the City of Halifax began to encroach on the southern shores of Bedford Basin, and the community was eventually included as part of the city...

 near the Halifax abutment. New highway interchanges were built with the northern end of Barrington Street (Trunk 3), and an extension of Robie Street and the Bedford Highway (Trunk 2), as well as realignments of Highway 102
Nova Scotia Highway 102
Highway 102 is a north-south freeway in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia that runs from Halifax to Truro. It is the busiest highway in Atlantic Canada....

 and Bayers Road. Some CN
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....

 railway trackage in the area also had to be realigned.

Impact on development

The building of the MacKay Bridge, along with Highway 111, initiated a development boom in Dartmouth which eclipsed that created by the Macdonald Bridge during the 1950s and 1960s. The Burnside Business Park, the Mic Mac Mall
Mic Mac Mall
Mic Mac Mall is a Canadian shopping mall located in Nova Scotia's Halifax Regional Municipality, in the community of Dartmouth. It is owned by Ivanhoe Cambridge headquartered in Montreal, Quebec....

 shopping centre, and several residential developments in the Albro Lake
Albro Lake, Nova Scotia
Albro Lake is a neighbourhood in the north end of the community of Dartmouth in Nova Scotia's Halifax Regional Municipality.Albro Lake takes its name from the shallow freshwater lake of the same name. The lake was named after Samuel Albro, who first settled in the area in the 1740s with a group of...

 neighbourhood in Dartmouth's north end during the 1970s can be directly attributed to the bridge's construction.

Financing

In 1970, a decision was made to finance the construction of the bridge with low-interest loans denominated in foreign currencies. That decision saved money in the short term and allowed the tolls to be kept low. However, the subsequent decline in the value of the Canadian dollar against the German Mark
German mark
The Deutsche Mark |mark]], abbreviated "DM") was the official currency of West Germany and Germany until the adoption of the euro in 2002. It is commonly called the "Deutschmark" in English but not in German. Germans often say "Mark" or "D-Mark"...

 and the Swiss franc
Swiss franc
The franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein; it is also legal tender in the Italian exclave Campione d'Italia. Although not formally legal tender in the German exclave Büsingen , it is in wide daily use there...

 wiped out the interest cost advantage, then added massively to annual debt servicing costs.

As a result, at its peak, the Commission's debt amounted to nearly $125,000,000, nearly triple the total cost of construction for both harbour bridges of about $42,000,000.

Renaming controversy

Following the death of former Nova Scotia premier Robert L. Stanfield in 2003, there was a motion made to rename the MacKay Bridge to honour Stanfield, however the Stanfield family did not want any current structures already named for persons to be changed for Stanfield's sake. In 2007 the Halifax International Airport was renamed Halifax - Robert L. Stanfield International Airport; several new schools and other institutional buildings are also under consideration for Stanfield's name.

External links

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