Residents of a mobile home park in Lower Sackville, N.S., are calling for a better route to services in their area – as many resort to crossing a dangerous highway to access groceries and public transportation.
Since 2011, two people have been struck by vehicles and killed while attempting to cross this section of Nova Scotia’s Highway 101.
Rob Davis, who lives in the Sackville Manor Mobile Home Park, said people prefer to cross the Beaverbank Connector illegally rather than take a longer alternative that forces people in the opposite direction and into a loop – because it saves a significant amount of time.
“There’s just no access,” Davis said, adding that “something needs to be done” to eliminate the risks associated with pedestrian traffic, especially considering the number of children living in his neighborhood.
“The bus station that 90 percent of us use is on the other side of the highway. Our groceries, everything is on the other side of the highway.”
Davis said a friend of his, who did not own a car, died about five years ago after being struck by a vehicle while trying to cross the road.
‘That’s how he got his groceries. He walked every day and didn’t have a car,” he explained. ‘There are a lot of people here who don’t do that.
“It’s dangerous.”
A staff report shows that about nine people cross this section of the highway every day.
Skye Bryden-Blom
Tyler Hillier, who lives in Sackville Manor, says he crosses the highway every week to pick up essential items.
“You have to go all the way down otherwise you have to walk an hour and a half to get to Downsview (Mall), compared to this method, which is about ten minutes away from here,” he said.
‘We also try to take things home with us. That’s why you usually have to go that way and you run the risk of being hit by someone who is going way too fast. There’s so much risk involved just because that’s really your only option.”
Hillier said it would take about an hour to walk to the nearest bus stop — without crossing the highway — since no bus routes pass through his neighborhood.
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“We have almost no access to any public transportation,” he explained.
“So our only option is (to) walk on the highway.”
The city council passes a motion to move forward
In a new report reviewed Tuesday by Halifax Regional Councilcouncil staff recommended that Halifax councilors approve a combination of multi-use trails and bridges for pedestrian and bicycle crossings between the mobile home park and Old Sackville Road.
“There is no legal or safe way for people to walk between the Sackville Manor Mobile Home Park and the Sackville Transit Terminal,” the report said, adding that the ramps associated with Exit 2 of adjacent Highway 101 pose a threat for crossing pedestrians.
“Although pedestrians are not allowed to cross this site, a small number do cross it as this is the quickest and most direct way for residents of the Sackville Manor Mobile Home Park to access public transport, as well as the shops and services of the Downsview Mall.”
Halifax Regional Council passed a motion on Tuesday to move forward with the report in the consent agenda.
Count. Paul Russell, who represents the Sackville area, said the council will move forward with the “right option” once it receives sufficient provincial funding for the project.
“We’re going to move forward on our end and reach out to the province,” he said, adding that he’s not yet sure which design the municipality will settle on — as there are several.
9 people cross busy highways every day: report
The report from Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) staff noted that the current design of the highway and interchange creates a barrier separating the mobile home neighborhood from nearby shops and services.
The shorter route, which is illegal and crosses a busy highway, cuts travel time by about 50 percent.
“A 45-minute journey turns into a 15 to 20-minute journey,” the report explains, citing this as a safety risk as vehicles regularly travel at high speeds in this area.
A 2022 study commissioned to determine the number of people crossing Highway 101 counted nine people walking along this stretch of road over a 12-hour period – indicating that pedestrians were crossing the exit 2 interchange along the shoulder of using the road and crossing traffic in multiple locations.
This path will take people from the Sackville Transit Terminal back to the Sackville Manor Mobile Home Park neighborhood.
Skye Bryden-Blom
“It is a relatively low number due to the limited number of destinations on the Sackville Manor Mobile Home Park side and because it is dangerous and illegal,” the report said.
Following a multi-year process involving an analysis of the area and several public feedback sessions, several draft options for potential pedestrian walkways have been drawn up.
As a result, the most popular design among respondents, known as “Concept 1,” included a 12-foot-wide multi-use path that begins in the mobile home park and ends at the Sackville Transit Terminal. The path would run along the shoulder of a driveway and pass through the exit 2 interchange via a bridge.
The total distance of this particular design would be approximately 500 meters – in line with the current prohibited route that residents already take. The staff report recommended this design as the best option.
Another preferred design, known as “Concept 3”, also includes a multi-use path and two underpasses via the Exit 2 interchange. It would also be the fastest and cheapest to develop, according to the report.
“Although not as popular as Concept 1, it was widely cited as still an acceptable option and a major improvement over the status quo, especially when additional features are added to increase safety and comfort levels for women and seniors. increase,” read an overview.
The recommended design, a multi-use trail with two bridges, is estimated to have a price tag of $7.6 million. The second most popular design, a multi-use path with two underpasses, is expected to cost about $5.1 million. Another option exists for $9.3 million.
“The cost to cover some or all of this capital is not included in HRM’s 10-year capital plan,” the report said.
“The recommended approach is for other government contracts to cover most or all of the construction costs.”
The report concluded that if the council did not move forward with any of the recommended options, residents of the Sackville neighborhood would continue to be at “high risk of injury or death” if they used the informal crossing.
