Cogswell Street Interchange

Redeveloping Halifax’s Historic Waterfront.

Location

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Client

Regional Municipality of Halifax

Project value

65 Million

Project status

Complete

Underutilized Infrastructure

The Cogswell Street Interchange had originally been developed in the 1960s with the intention of creating a freeway along the waterfront area. Public opposition to the demolition of Halifax’s historic properties scuttled the project after partial completion. The current interchange had been identified as an underutilized piece of transportation infrastructure. Over the past several decades, innovative approaches to urban renewal and community involvement have renewed interest in opening up downtown core areas. The Cogswell Interchange initiative offers an opportunity to create an exciting gateway to downtown Halifax.

It all starts with a Survey

WSP’s Halifax office completed a survey defining the legal boundary between the current public road network and private land holdings in downtown Halifax.

The challenge was that there had been 40 previously completed surveys over the past 35 years that dealt with small portions of the project and did not look at the interchange as a whole. We had to verify the survey documentation in the form of plans and deeds, and then ground truth the field evidence to make sure no gaps or overlaps were present in the previous surveys.

The client, Halifax’s Regional Municipality, will use the survey results as the basis for a major redesign of the Cogswell Street Interchange Redevelopment. The initiative will dramatically reshape and revitalize the area, with a vision of a high-quality, mixed-use, pedestrian/transit/active transportation-friendly redevelopment that will connect downtown to Northern Peninsula neighborhoods and enhance access to the city’s historic waterfront area.

Acres of Road

6

Incomplete old Surveys

40

Decade of Original Development

The 60's