The A. Murray McKay Bridge is the second suspension bridge linking the Halifax peninsula with Dartmouth and opened on July 10, 1970. It was named after Alexander Murray McKay, chairman of the Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission from 1951-1971 and past chief executive officer of MT&T . McKay 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 McKay Bridge to honour Stanfield (in addition to possibly renaming Halifax International Airport, and several new schools/institutions being built), however the suggestion was rejected by many residents of the Halifax Regional Municipality and Nova Scotians in general, given the historic legacy of Mr. McKay.

The bridge carries Nova Scotia Highway 111 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 McKay 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 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 McKay Bridge, along with Highway 111 (the Dartmouth "Circumferential Highway"), initiated a development boom in Dartmouth which eclipsed that created by the MacDonald Bridge during the 1950s and 1960s. The Burnside Industrial 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.

The entire bridge measures 1.2 kilometres with the suspended span being 740 metres in length, carrying 4 traffic lanes with posted speed limits of 70 km/h. Pedestrians and bicycles are not permitted on the McKay Bridge; they may use dedicated lanes on the MacDonald Bridge instead.

As of 2004, the bridge charges a toll (C$0.75) to cross for regular passenger vehicles. Larger vehicles have higher tolls. The McKay Bridge is the only harbour bridge which permits semi-trailers and large trucks.

External links

• Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission, information on A. Murray McKay Bridge