There was traffic chaos in Halifax this afternoon, November 7, when authorities closed the Angus L. Macdonald bridge to all traffic including buses, cars and bicycles and pedestrians. (Trucks are never permitted to use the bridge.) The cause of the closure, at the request of the Department of Labour, was damage to a tower crane on an apartment building construction site adjacent to the bridge plaza on the Dartmouth side.
The Department of Labour is responsible for enforcing construction site safety, and has the authority to stop work on a project if it deems conditions to be unsafe.
As one of only two vehicle crossings over Halifax harbour, the Angus L Macdonald bridge is usually very busy, especially toward the end of the workday. If traffic is halted, the other bridge, the A. Murray MacKay, and the approach roads on both sides of harbour, become jammed. This will be the situation for some time as early reports indicate that the bridge will be closed until sometime tomorrow and periodically thereafter as the crane is dismantled.