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The Cogswell Interchange was a multi-level highway interchange in
The developers of Scotia Square, a project of a scale hitherto unattempted in the Maritimes, stressed the importance of improved transport infrastructure to the complex and commissioned a study recommending a conceptual precursor to "Harbour Drive", a proposed elevated freeway running parallel to the water, similar to the
In the decades since construction, the interchange became a much-maligned feature of downtown Halifax. It was considered excessively large and pedestrian unfriendly. It separated downtown from the North End and the waterfront from the uphill areas.
Over the years there were several proposals for its demolition. The most current, the Cogswell Interchange Lands Plan, is being implemented.
The plan aims to offer quality urban design and promote economic development through a number of goals:
* reinstating a walkable, at-grade road system
* forming a new north gateway to downtown
* improving active transportation linkages
* reconnecting downtown to the North End
* increasing density to form a mixed-use neighbourhood downtown for living, working, and playing
* strengthen Barrington Street's position as the primary north–south street downtown (it was severed by the Cogswell Interchange)
* maintain visual connections to the harbour
* form viable lots for private development and economic growth
* provide a new transit hub
On September 20, 2016, the municipal government voted to hire a company to develop a plan for the interchange's removal and replacement by a more appropriate road network with the design work being carried out by WSP Group and several design consultants.
In February 2019, council approved the 90 per cent design plan and directed city staff to proceed with a tender for the demolition and redevelopment of the site.
As of September 2021, the tender to construct the new district was awarded. Demolition and subsequent construction began in 2022, and the project is expected to be complete in 2025. During the deconstruction, there will be approximately of roadway removed and reverted to either built-up area or parkland. The total area of the site is about , or approximately .
A ceremony marking the commencement of the redevelopment project, hosted by Mayor Mike Savage, was held on 2 November 2021.
The interchange was demolished in 2024.
Cogswell DistrictCogswell District Redevelopment Plan - Halifax Shape Your City Public Engagement Forum
{{Roads in the Halifax Regional Municipality Cancelled highway projects in Canada Road interchanges in Canada Roads in Halifax, Nova Scotia
downtown
''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...
, Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. It was built in 1969-70 as the first stage of a greater scheme for an elevated freeway, called Harbour Drive, that would have demolished much of the downtown area. The plan was halted by opposition, but the Cogswell Interchange remained a visible reminder, occupying a large amount of prime land and posing a barrier to pedestrian movement.
As the interchange became functionally obsolete and increasingly expensive to maintain, the municipal government decided to demolish the interchange and replace it with a more conventional street grid. Halifax Regional Council unanimously approved the 90 per cent design construction plan in February 2019 and directed staff to tender demolition and construction contracts for the redevelopment. Work began on the project in March 2022. The interchange was demolished in 2024.
The renamed Cogswell District is scheduled to be open to the public by late 2025.
Origins
The city began purchasing land and demolishing buildings in the 1950s in anticipation of the highway construction. In the 1960s,urban renewal
Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...
planning was underway all over North America and Europe, and Halifax was no exception. In 1962, the city placed advertisements in newspapers seeking development proposals for the Central Redevelopment Area, an area of several city blocks worth of older wood-framed buildings. This eventually became Scotia Square, a complex of office, residential and hotel towers atop parking garages and a shopping mall.
The developers of Scotia Square, a project of a scale hitherto unattempted in the Maritimes, stressed the importance of improved transport infrastructure to the complex and commissioned a study recommending a conceptual precursor to "Harbour Drive", a proposed elevated freeway running parallel to the water, similar to the Gardiner Expressway
The Frederick G. Gardiner Expressway, commonly known as the Gardiner Expressway or simply the Gardiner, is a partially at grade and elevated municipal expressway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Running close to the shore of Lake Ontario, it exten ...
in downtown Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
.
A.D. Margison & Associates, successor to the firm which designed the Gardiner Expressway decades earlier, was hired by the city in 1967 to formally design the new highway and interchange. Opposition to the plan began to mount, led by the Nova Scotia Association of Architects with Allan F. Duffus at the helm. Many architects, engineers and planners spoke out against the destruction of the historic urban core and stated that it was not too late to build "simpler roads," which would require less demolition. Duffus produced an alternate plan, which A.D. Margison & Associates said would "overload the streets with traffic by 1970" and was rejected by city council, which feared that any changes to the interchange plan would jeopardise tenancy agreements made with respect to Scotia Square.
After demolition of the remaining buildings on the site, construction of the interchange began in 1969. It opened in 1970, the same year the municipal government recanted and cancelled construction of the remainder of Harbour Drive. It then cost $5.8 million.
Demolition and redevelopment
In the decades since construction, the interchange became a much-maligned feature of downtown Halifax. It was considered excessively large and pedestrian unfriendly. It separated downtown from the North End and the waterfront from the uphill areas.
Over the years there were several proposals for its demolition. The most current, the Cogswell Interchange Lands Plan, is being implemented.
The plan aims to offer quality urban design and promote economic development through a number of goals:
* reinstating a walkable, at-grade road system
* forming a new north gateway to downtown
* improving active transportation linkages
* reconnecting downtown to the North End
* increasing density to form a mixed-use neighbourhood downtown for living, working, and playing
* strengthen Barrington Street's position as the primary north–south street downtown (it was severed by the Cogswell Interchange)
* maintain visual connections to the harbour
* form viable lots for private development and economic growth
* provide a new transit hub
On September 20, 2016, the municipal government voted to hire a company to develop a plan for the interchange's removal and replacement by a more appropriate road network with the design work being carried out by WSP Group and several design consultants.
In February 2019, council approved the 90 per cent design plan and directed city staff to proceed with a tender for the demolition and redevelopment of the site.
As of September 2021, the tender to construct the new district was awarded. Demolition and subsequent construction began in 2022, and the project is expected to be complete in 2025. During the deconstruction, there will be approximately of roadway removed and reverted to either built-up area or parkland. The total area of the site is about , or approximately .
A ceremony marking the commencement of the redevelopment project, hosted by Mayor Mike Savage, was held on 2 November 2021.
The interchange was demolished in 2024.
Responsibility
The municipality and the province shared responsibility for maintenance of the bridge spans. The municipality was responsible for the road surfaces and the retaining walls.See also
*Highway revolts
Highway revolts (also freeway revolts, expressway revolts, or road protests) are organized protests against the planning or construction of highways, freeways, expressways, and other civil engineering projects that prioritize motor vehicle traff ...
References
External links
*Cogswell District
{{Roads in the Halifax Regional Municipality Cancelled highway projects in Canada Road interchanges in Canada Roads in Halifax, Nova Scotia