Cops trying new traffic strategy to eash commuter crunch
Posted Feb 14, 2012 05:25:03 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Halifax Regional Police are launching a new initiative to ease traffic congestion during the ongoing metro transit strike which will focus on keeping vehicles out of major arteries and intersections during rush hour.
Spokesperson Cst. Brian Palmeter tells Metro News officers will focus on vehicles that are illegally parked on main thoroughfares or broken down and drivers that enter intersections when they can’t get all the way through.
He said blocking intersections is common on HRM streets and it makes rush hours worse as it prevents cross traffic from flowing through.
Police issued 2,975 parking tickets during the first week of the transit strike, about 700 more than in a usual week.
The latest plan comes after an effort to improve traffic flow during the afternoon commute ended in driver frustration.
Last Thursday roads at three major intersections were closed in an effort streamline traffic off the peninsula. Drivers were not told in advance about the closures and some ended up confounded by lengthy delays.
The increasingly untenable traffic and transportation situation has prompted one citizens’ group to launch weekly rallies, urging the city and Amalgamated Transit Union to return to the bargaining table.
Joey Archibald was joined by 15 people during a rally at the Grand Parade Monday.
“I would have been really happy if, after we had this rally today, they were talking and they’re not,” Archibald told the Rick Howe Show, Monday. “We’re actually going to do it every Monday until it’s resolved.”
The latest round of talks between the city and the union broke down after 20 hours of negotiating last Thursday.
