Floating boardwalk now open on Halifax waterfront

A floating boardwalk that will helppedestrians avoid construction zones and busy downtown streetshas finally opened on the Halifax waterfront, two months behind schedule.

The 160-metre-long, three-metre-wide walkwayconnects the Cable Wharf with thewharf in front of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. It opened at 11 a.m. on Saturday and had8,000 people use it on that day alone, said Jennifer Angel, the acting president and CEO of the Waterfront Development Corporation.

The corporation constructed and owns the bridge.

Since the spring, there have been reports of pedestrian congestion in downtown Halifax as people try to avoid the numerous construction sites in the area.

"There's no doubt, reports that I've received today ...the congestion on Lower Water Street is very greatly diminished with the sea bridge so that's good news," said Angel.

'We're watching this fairly closely'

For the next few days the bridge will close at dusk, but the long-term plan is to have it open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily once proper lighting can be installed, Angel said.

The boardwalk willalsobe staffed during peak hoursand it may close without notice due to weather, rough seas orconstruction.

"It is a new piece of infrastructure and we think it's important ... that we're watching this fairly closely until we have a good handle on how people are using it," said Angel.

Weather and rough seas can close boardwalk

The bridge replaces a section of boardwalk that was torn up to make way for construction of the Queen's Marque. Thatproject will house luxury condos, businessesand a hotel.

The Waterfront Development Corporationhad hoped to have the bridge open by the beginning of May, but that never panned out, nor did hopes that the boardwalk would be open for Canada Day.

Angel said those dates were optimistic and it took longer than expected to coordinate the bridge's construction and obtain the proper building permits.

"I'm very, very proud of the work that my team has done to deliver the bridge as quickly and as effectively as they have," she said.

The bridge construction was budgeted ata cost of $850,000.Angel expects the corporation went over that by around$10,000 to $20,000 as crews continue to makeadjustments to the floating boardwalk.

Lower Water Street, not the bridge, is still intended to be the primary pedestrian corridor, said Angel.

The bridge will remain open seasonally as often as possible until construction of the Queen's Marque is complete. That work is expected to finish up in late 2019.