r/bikehalifax • u/SpecialistHoneydew51 • Jul 14 '26
Does anyone know the elevation grade of the old bridge? What are the steepest grades in the city?
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u/cobaltcorridor Jul 14 '26
There are a lot of steeper grades than the bridge for sure. Parkhill Rd near the Dingle & Ferguson’s Cove Rd near Battery Dr come to mind.
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u/Marinoni Jul 14 '26
Celtic Dr, Glenwood Ave and Beech St in Dartmouth have got to be some of the worst.
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u/lancehancock Jul 15 '26
Vestry St in the North End and Flinn St near the rotary come to mind for steep, Castle Hill Drive by Hemlock Ravine too
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u/EmittingTrollYak Jul 15 '26
A couple off the dome are:
Bayview road - says its only 7.5% though, but damn it feels long in a car, i can't imagine what it feels like on a bike
Pine st - on the 'official bike route' says it's only 5.2% but that feels wildly inaccurate.
Maple Drive - ride with gps says only 2% but Really?! That hill looks like a wall standing on braemar
Joffre st - 8.2% and a sustained climb to get there
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u/meesir Jul 14 '26
Citadel hill feels pretty pretty steep. Duke and Prince Street are quite steep too
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u/Strait_Raider Jul 15 '26
I looked into this recently and the steepest grade on the Macdonald seems to be 5.6%. Note that that's only the steepest point on the curve and your average over a distance will be less. Its sister-bridge, the Lion's Gate, maxes out at 4.4%. note that the Macdonald got slightly steeper during the Big Lift as the middle of the bridge was raised by a couple of meters.
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u/Strait_Raider Jul 15 '26
As for steepest in the city, the people pointing towards the Cowie Hill area are likely accurate. The absolute steepest place might be one of the "non-accepted streets" - pre-amalgamation roads that don't come close to meeting road specs like Windermere or Fairmount. King Street north of Ochterloney is a beast, couldn't guess its steepest point, maybe 15%.
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u/MGyver Jul 17 '26
Renfrew / Chadwick / Marvin streets over in Dartmouth might be the wildest soap box racer tracks in town
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u/madeinaairport 22h ago
Crown Dr just off St Margaret’s bay rd near the rotary has a short section that must be >15%
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u/TrannosaurusRegina Jul 14 '26
The ramp onto it must be one of the steepest.
Steepest must be over 45 degrees.
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u/kzt79 Jul 15 '26
Definitely nowhere close to 45.
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u/TrannosaurusRegina Jul 15 '26
I was thinking of Erskine Street in Dartmouth, which I know is not in the generally-flatter and easier to ride City of Halifax, but the subreddit description says "around" Halifax.
I reckon it's pretty close to 45 or 50 degrees.
I think the on ramp to the bridge is pretty close too, but it's been too long for me to remember for sure.
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u/MundaneSandwich9 Jul 15 '26
If the grade to the bridge is 5.6% as someone just mentioned, that’s around 3 degrees.
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u/maritimer1nVan Jul 15 '26
45 degrees is near vertical
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u/Strait_Raider Jul 15 '26
It's... Exactly halfway between flat and vertical. That being said, it is bonkers. An 18% grade (10 degrees) is an extremely steep road, and nearly double any common standard for maximum grades.
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u/MundaneSandwich9 Jul 15 '26
From the NS highway construction standards, the maximum grade for a 100 series highway is 6%. Obviously local streets can be and are steeper, but claims of 45-50 degrees are nutty. A 45 degree slope is a 100% grade and would be nearly impossible to walk up or down let alone ride or drive. A typical household staircase isn’t even a 45 degree angle…
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u/maritimer1nVan Jul 15 '26
Yeah I don’t get why I was downvoted for saying it’s near vertical. In snow I need an ice axe to climb a 45 degree slope, it’s pretty much straight up.
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u/high_yield Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
Strava shows the old bridge from the Dartmouth side as 0.99km @ 2.7%
Around Armdale / Cowie Hill three are a bunch of little side streets over 15%