Halifax council votes down motion to pause construction of bike lanes

Playing null of undefined

Halifax council debates bike lanes motion

Hundreds of cycling advocates gather in Halifax

After hours of debate and a rally that drew hundreds of bikers to Halifax City Hall on Tuesday, council has voted down a motion to pause the construction of new bike lanes in the municipality.

Mayor Andy Fillmore brought forward the motion, which called for a pause on awarding any contracts for new bike lane designs or construction capital projects until a staff report on traffic capacity and congestion and “feasibility of alternative network solutions” was completed.

The motion lost 12-to-five on Tuesday. Fillmore and councillors Billy Gillis, David Hendsbee, Trish Purdy and John Young voted in favour of it.

“This motion is not intended to stop bike lane construction,” Purdy said during discussions. “This motion is intended to take a sober second look.”

Councillor Sam Austin said he was “profoundly disappointed” in the motion.

“Bike lanes do not cause congestion,” he said. “What does cause congestion is a municipality that has not done the work to provide alternatives. Delay makes it worse.”

Prior to the Tuesday meeting, Fillmore said he brought the motion forward over “growing public concern over worsening traffic congestion and rapidly increasing bike lane infrastructure costs.”

“Right now, we’re seeing road space reduced before alternatives like reliable transit or safe, connected bike routes are in place,” Fillmore said in an open letter. “Beyond the obvious frustration and quality of life factors experienced by Halifax residents, congestion also harms economic productivity and increases vehicle emissions.”

Halifax’s plan for the 53-kilometre cycling network first came forward in 2017. The network was supposed to be completed in 2022, but it is behind schedule with nearly 60 per cent finished.

The project was initially projected to cost $25 million but has soared to an estimated $90 million or more.

“Cycling is a great way to commute, but it’s not for everyone and we live in the here and now,” said Gillis. “We live in a rapidly growing city. We’re playing catchup on infrastructure.”

Councillor Jean St-Amand voted against the motion, but he said his main disagreement with it was the pause on construction.

“A surgical approach to a review of the budget for our active transportation projects is appropriate,” he said.

Alternative motion passes

After the original motion was defeated, Fillmore introduced an alternative that requested reports on the Morris Street and Brunswick Street Multi-Modal Phase One projects ahead of council’s July 8 meeting.

The Morris Street motion passed 11-to-six. The chief administrative officer will provide updated alternatives to the protected bike lane option that maintain two-way traffic on Morris Street and do not worsen congestion there or on Lower Water Street.

The Brunswick Street motion, which sought alternatives to achieve the protected bike lane that do not remove vehicular lanes, was defeated 12-to-five.

City Hall rally

Hundreds of cyclists gathered in front of Halifax City Hall Tuesday morning to hold a bike lane rally, calling on city council to vote against the original motion.

Kelly Granigan’s main form of transportation is her bicycle. She was angry when she heard Fillmore was pushing a motion to pause all new bike lane construction, citing rising costs of construction and traffic congestion concerns.

“We deserve safe infrastructure to get around and if the excuse is traffic congestion, you don’t want me in front of your car in traffic, you don’t want me taking up space on the road,” said Granigan.

Colin MacIntosh is a cyclist and member of the Halifax Cycling Coalition and wanted to tell the mayor the bike network needs to be completed now.

“We don’t want to halt the progress we’ve made,” said MacIntosh. “We have a disconnected network, and we want to connect it and get more people using it.”

If anything, the bike network should be expedited, said Jenna Molenaar, who commutes by cargo bike and suggests an incomplete bike network is unsafe for all road users.

“There’s been so many pauses already,” said Molenaar. “How are we supposed to reduce congestion if more people don’t get on bikes? People are scared to get on bikes, so they aren’t doing it.”

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