Why Halifax councillors are now in favour of Windsor Street Exchange redevelopment

Halifax council has approved a plan for the Windsor Street Exchange.

Work will in fact proceed to redevelop Halifax’s Windsor Street Exchange after an overwhelming 15-2 vote by city councillors on Tuesday.

That comes about one month after an 8-6 vote put a halt to plans, with opposing councillors saying not enough was done to prioritize transit.

“I’m very happy,” Mayor Andy Fillmore told CTV News immediately following the vote. “This is what the voters of Halifax voted for in the last election, to solve congestion.”

Following the Jan. 28 vote against proceeding, staff had no direction on what to do next – so they came back with the updated proposal Tuesday.

It was met with some questions and skepticism about what was different from the original plan.

“I think this is more expediency in politics than anything else,” said Coun. Sam Austin.

“There isn’t a huge difference,” Coun. Kathryn Morse told CTV News. “It’s slightly better than it was a few weeks ago, in that we have more flexibility on the phasing of the project and more flexibility on financing of the project.”

Austin and Morse were two of those who eventually supported the project, with councillors Virginia Hinch and Laura White opposing the plan.

“What I really love about this place is you can sometimes go in expecting to do one thing and find yourself, based on answers received suddenly, adding in the other direction,” Austin told council.

He said overall he was assured by staff explaining a “real commitment here to transit” and funding details.

Staff told councillors conversations are ongoing with other levels of government to acquire more funding support for the project.

“The bottom line is we feel we’ve opened up the door for multiple funding opportunities,” Brad Anguish, the municipality’s commissioner of operations.

He said Ottawa has OK’d the ‘stacking’ of funding, meaning different streams can be combined for this proposal.

Staff also said necessary Halifax Water work can also proceed in lockstep.

But the key change is that staff are working with the Port of Halifax to acquire about 11 metres into their land at the Fairview Cove Terminal, to widen the roadway.

That, in part, would allow for a dedicated outbound transit lane – something that was missing in the original proposal a month ago – as part of phase two of the project.

“The major change that we’ve brought forward is looking for council’s direction to proceed with that second phase with the road widening,” said Megan Soroka, one of the project managers. “We heard from council that there’s the desire to see that second phase – the road widening – to have dedicated transit lanes and separated cycling and pedestrian facilities.”

“The constraints have been laid out in front of us,” Coun. Patty Cuttell said to councillors, referring to the Port of Halifax land on one side and the cemetery on the other. “Getting to that perfect version… Again, we’re going to be setting ourselves back years and we don’t even know if we’ll ever achieve it.”

The approved plan will focus on adding separated pedestrian and cycling space.

“I think that this is an absolute win for the municipality, I think that it’s a win for the Port of Halifax,” Coun. Nancy Hartling told reporters. “This is a solid path forward and we should be really pleased with where we are.”

Next steps

Construction on phase one of the work will begin this summer.

Staff acknowledged there may be some disruptions in the area, but said they’ll try to maintain through traffic.

Staff will then appear before council again later this year where they will detail the next phase of the project with a conceptual plan. That will include a timeline and updated costs.

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