The problem at this intersection - traffic congestion - is not caused by pedestrians. Yes, I know where the Willow Tree is. I walked through it daily for years along with countless others walking to work and school. The congestion is caused by the cars. The root of the problem is car reliance stemming from autocentric urban planning.

Like I said, increasing road capacity (the net effect of installing a footbridge system and closing the crosswalk) is just a band-aid solution. Induced demand is a simple and established traffic planning concept and numerous other cities around the world have demonstrated that simply increasing road capacity is not a long-term solution for resolving traffic problems. You may only be proposing a footbridge for this one spot but it's a step in the wrong direction and ultimately a waste of money. To implement a footbridge system is much more expensive than simply redesigning an at-grade intersection.

If London and Hong Kong are removing their pedestrian footbridges and subways, despite the fact that these are much larger and more congested cities - what does that tell you about the necessity for grade separation in little old Halifax?

London and Hong Kong's rejection of footbridges and subways is relevant because these cities have a lot of them. I can't cite a survey of Haligonian's attitude toward footbridges because we barely have any, and most of the ones we do have are far out in the suburbs. People here don't deal with them on a daily basis.

The only long-term sustainable solution for transportation planning in this city is investment in better public transit coupled with walkable, transit-oriented urban planning.