A. Murray MacKay Bridge

Infobox_Bridge
bridge_name= A. Murray MacKay Bridge


caption= The MacKay Bridge as seen from Halifax.
official_name= A. Murray MacKay Bridge
also_known_as= MacKay Bridge
carries= Motor vehicles
crosses= Halifax Harbour
locale= Halifax Regional Municipality (Halifax – Dartmouth)
maint= Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission
id=
design= Suspension bridge
mainspan= 426 metres
length= 1.2 kilometres
height= 96 meters (315 feet.)
width= 4 lanes
clearance= 55.2 meters (181.21 feet.) at centre-span
below= 46.9 meters (153.87 feet.) at centre-span
traffic= 49,678 (2005)
begin= 1966
open= July 10, 1970
toll= $0.75 CAD cash / $0.60 MACPASS
map_cue=
map_

map_text=
map_width=
coordinates= coord|44|40|40|N|63|36|43|W|region:CA_type:landmark
lat= 44.676801
long= -63.611312

The A. Murray MacKay Bridge is the second suspension bridge linking the Halifax Peninsula with Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and opened on July 10, 1970.

The bridge is named after Alexander Murray MacKay, chairman of the Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission from 1951 to 1971 and past chief executive officer of MT&T. MacKay was instrumental in having both the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge and his namesake structure built during his tenure at the commission.

Following the death of former Nova Scotia premier Robert L. Stanfield in 2004, there was a motion made to rename the MacKay Bridge to honour Stanfield (in 2007 the Halifax International Airport was renamed to Halifax Stanfield International Airport, and several new schools and institutions being built are being considered for the Stanfield name), however the Stanfield family did not want any current structures already named for persons to be changed for Stanfield's sake.

The bridge carries Highway 111, informally known as the Dartmouth "Circumferential Highway," across the northwestern end of "The Narrows" of Halifax Harbour. The centre of the Halifax Explosion in 1917 is several hundred metres southeast of the structure near the Richmond shoreline.

A major political controversy preceded construction of the MacKay Bridge when the city of Halifax expropriated residents from the community of Africville near the Halifax abutment. New highway interchanges were built with the northern end of Barrington Street (Trunk 3), and an extension of Robie Street and the Bedford Highway (Trunk 2), as well as realignments of Highway 102 and Bayers Road. Some CN railway trackage in the area also had to be realigned.

The building of the MacKay Bridge, along with Highway 111, initiated a development boom in Dartmouth which eclipsed that created by the Macdonald Bridge during the 1950s and 1960s. The Burnside Business Park, the Mic Mac Mall shopping centre, and several residential developments in the Albro Lake neighbourhood in Dartmouth's north end during the 1970s can be directly attributed to the bridge's construction.

The entire bridge measures 1.2 kilometres (3,960 feet) with the total of all suspended spans being 739.9 metres (2,440 feet) in length, carrying four traffic lanes with posted speed limits of 70 km/h (45 mph). Pedestrians and bicycles are not permitted on the MacKay Bridge; they may use dedicated lanes on the Macdonald Bridge instead.

As of 2008, the bridge charges a toll (75¢,or MACPASS electronic toll system, 60¢ tokens were once used but are no longer accepted) to cross for regular passenger vehicles. Larger vehicles have higher tolls proportional to the number of axles. The Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission is exploring the idea of moving entirely to electronic tolls to avoid handling tokens or cash. The MacKay Bridge is the only harbour bridge which permits semi-trailers and large trucks.

External links

* [http://www.hdbc.ns.ca/mackay_general.asp Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission, information on A. Murray MacKay Bridge]
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* [http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=44.677732,-63.611913&spn=0.008509,0.014799&t=k&hl=en Google Maps Satellite view of the MacKay Bridge]