City, provincial road crews shutting down early for long weekend

Getting out of town Friday just got a little easier.

The city is planning to have road construction crews wrap up early Friday afternoon so the mass exodus to the cottage, beach or campground for the long weekend is a little bit smoother.

"We do have a few projects that are on the higher volume roads," says HRM Design and Construction Manager Dave Hubley. "We will be working with our contractor, realizing that the peak will be a little earlier that afternoon."

While construction crews usually wrap up around 4 or 5 p.m., Hubley says they hope to have crews finish up as early as 1 p.m.

He says it's something the city has planned for from the start of the construction season.

"We have purposely held off on doing some projects until after this long weekend," he said.

Drivers should notice a difference on Main Street and Highway 7 as well as the Herring Cove Road. The installation of natural gas pipelines on the Bedford Highway won't be cut off early and will still affect traffic.

The provincial department of transportation also has plans to shut roadwork down early, though details haven't been finalized.

Meanwhile the Macdonald Bridge will be closed Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to noon 16th annual MACPASS Miles road race. The pedestrian walkway and bicycle lane will remain open during the bridge closure. On Monday, the Macdonald will be closed from 7:00am to 5:00pm to host the Natal Day Parade and Halifax Harbour Bridges Bridge Walk. The pedestrian walkway and bicycle lane will remain open during this closure.

The MacKay Bridge will be open all weekend.