A. Murray MacKay Bridge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 The MacKay Bridge as seen from the industrial north end of Dartmouth. |
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| Official name | A. Murray MacKay Bridge |
|---|---|
| Carries | Motor vehicles |
| Crosses | Halifax Harbour |
| Locale | Halifax Regional Municipality (Halifax – Dartmouth) |
| Maintained by | Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission |
| Design | Suspension bridge |
| Longest span | 426 metres |
| Total length | 1.2 kilometres |
| Width | 4 lanes |
| Clearance below | 46.9 metres at centre-span |
| AADT | 49,678 (2005) |
| Opening date | July 10, 1970 |
| Toll | $0.75 CAD cash / $0.60 MACPASS or token |
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The A. Murray MacKay Bridge is the second suspension bridge linking the Halifax Peninsula with Dartmouth and opened on July 10, 1970. It was named after Alexander Murray MacKay, chairman of the Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission from 1951-1971 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.
During the 1970s, many residents of Halifax and Dartmouth took to nicknaming the structure "the new bridge." 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 addition to possibly renaming Halifax International Airport, and several new schools/institutions being built), however the Stanfield family did not want any current structures already named for persons to be changed for Stanfield's sake.
The bridge carries Nova Scotia Highway 111, informally known as the Dartmouth "Circumferential Highway," across the northwestern end of "The Narrows" of Halifax Harbour. The epicentre 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 (Nova Scotia Highway 3), and an extension of Robie Street and the Bedford Highway (Nova Scotia Highway 2), as well as realignments of Nova Scotia 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 Dartmouth during the 1970s can be directly attributed to the bridge's construction. Locals still refer to the bridge as "the new bridge," while the Macdonald Bridge is known as "the old bridge".
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 4 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 2005, the bridge charges a toll (C$0.75 or 60¢ with token or MACPASS) to cross for regular passenger vehicles. Larger vehicles have higher tolls. The MacKay Bridge is the only harbour bridge which permits semi-trailers and large trucks.
