Sydney's road to nowhere may soon go somewhere

An impasse that has prevented the opening of a three-kilometreroad built two years agoin Sydney may soon be broken, according to one of the parties involved in negotiations to solve the dispute.

The Sydney Port Access Road (SPAR) extension was intended to carry traffic across the former Sydney coke ovens site betweenSydney Port AccessRoadandone of Sydney's main thoroughfares, Victoria Road.

It was meant to alleviatetraffic, while clearing the way for development of the remediated property. But it's not yet open.

The crux of the dispute is a set oftrain tracks owned byGeneseeand Wyoming Inc. that crossthe new road just before it reachesSPAR. The company has refused permission for vehicles to cross the track, citing liability concerns.

The Sydney Coal Railway alsosteppedinwith concerns. Its tracks crossLinganRoad, runparallel toSPARandimmediately opposite the entrance to the extension. The railway worried aGeneseeand Wyoming train could back traffic up onto its line.

The dispute has been frustrating for Gary Campbell, president of Nova Scotia Lands, which manages the coke ovens and tar ponds property.

"It's hard to get a developer or sell property out there when you don't have proper access,which is key to opening that whole 150-acre site," he said.

Campbell said he hopesthe extension will finallyopen in January after Nova Scotia Lands offered a solution to the concerns earlier this year.

Itwill install traffic signals at the crossing andhire a flag person to be on site whenGeneseeand Wyoming runs a train at the crossing, which happens an average of twice a year.

Representatives of the coal line were brought to the site last week to see first-hand where trafficsignals will be installed.

"Hopefully,the coal company will be happy with the configuration of the traffic lights that will avoid any traffic (being)queued on their line and Transport Canada will be satisfied with how we do the flagging." Campbell said.