North Park roundabout construction snarls traffic

Construction on a new roundabout on North Park Street is likely going to be frustrating for drivers for the rest of the summer.

The municipality started work on the project by shutting down North Park Street from Cunard Street to Cogswell Street Wednesday, which caused some issues at the end of the first day of construction.

Halifax Regional Municipality spokesperson Jennifer Stairs said it will eventually help with traffic when the roundabout at North Park and Cunard streets is finished in October.

“Obviously this is going to be frustrating, and is going to cause some inconvenience for folks,” she said.

“But we want people to understand that it’s short-term pain.”

Stairs said the roundabout at Cunard, as well as the one planned for the intersection at North Park and Cogswell, will alleviate some of the “traffic woes” in the area.

“Roundabouts have been recommended for their safety, and to improve traffic flow,” she said.

But for the time being, it’s a headache for drivers and people who live the area, like Dr. John Gillis.

“People were backed up very deep (on Wednesday),” Gillis said, “and … it’s going to go like that for a while.”

Gillis said the municipality did its best to make things easy on people in the area, and he looks forward to the project being finished.

Crews will be working from 7 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. on weekdays and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays, for the duration of this project. The street will stay closed overnight.