On Monday morning federal, provincial, and municipal officials gathered to announce a combined $25 million in funding for Halifax’s all-ages and abilities (AAA) bike network. The federal government has committed $12.5 million, the provincial government $8.25 million, and the city will pony up the rest, about $4.25 million. The network was first approved as part...
Redesigning the Windsor Exchange: if we get it right, it could be great
Sometimes government makes an announcement, and even though you know it’s ages from reality, and will probably be announced and re-announced many times hence, you simply can’t help but get excited at the possibilities. Such is the case with the announcement by Transport Canada earlier this month that the federal department will help fund a...
Northwest Arm ferry to launch on Tuesday
UPDATED to include actual launch times: Tuesday, June 4, 7am After a month of waiting with boat ready to go, a new ferry service across the Northwest Arm is set to begin service on Tuesday, June 4th, at 7am. David Backman will be running his new 22-foot saltwater pontoon boat from the dock near the...
For Halifax council, a “climate emergency” means more roads
The nine-kilometre long Burnside Connector highway will cost at least $196 million, more than the entire Integrated Mobility Plan for active transportation and transit projects across the city. No one said the highway was too expensive, but councillors cry poverty when it comes to actually addressing the climate emergency.
On Friday, school kids will walk out of their classes and head out for another march around Halifax, visiting the various levels of government along the way, pleading for someone, anyone in a position of power to take seriously the realities of climate change. View this post on Instagram Hey everyone! Our route this strike […]
The plan to improve Herring Cove Road, eventually
The city's plan for the Spryfield street includes plenty of walking and cycling infrastructure, but leaves transit lanes in the realm of high-cost wishful thinking.
NOTE TO READERS: I’ve updated this story to reflect the cost of the 500 block project, estimated at $2.4 million. My earlier version mentioned only $250,000 in funding related to other Herring Cove Road projects. The city is creating a new functional plan for Herring Cove Road, featuring an “interim” plan with considerable improvements to […]
Ahead by a century
Leading With Transit is looking 100 years into the future and asking how higher order transit can help shape the future of Halifax.
Listen, I wouldn’t blame you if you were done with discussing the future of transit in Halifax. We had the Moving Forward Together (MFT) plan, for which thousands of folks chimed in with their hopes and dreams for buses in the region. Then we had the Integrated Mobility Plan (IMP), and everyone played ball again, […]
“Paving the streets with gold”: Why Halifax council turned down a look into raising standards for sidewalk snow-clearing
One of the more telling moments of budget season in Halifax was not even a part of city council’s official budget discussion. At a regular council meeting on January 29, Councillor Shawn Cleary asked for a report assessing the costs and benefits of tightening up the standards for snow-clearing in Halifax. His fellow councillors, seemingly […]
Proposed city budget pulls the wheels off bike network
I really, really wanted to write part two of the update on bikeway projects this week. But perhaps it is wiser to step back for a moment from documenting the planning progress around bike infrastructure, to consider whether or not this municipality actually has the intention to follow through and build what’s being planned. This […]
Update on ongoing bike projects, Part 1
I first wrote about bikes in Halifax back in 2003 when the city’s first bike plan, the “Blueprint for a Bicycle Friendly HRM,” was released and approved. Fifteen years and a half-dozen plans later, there is something that looks like momentum in the building of bike infrastructure in the city. There has been a slow […]
The Cogswell redesign’s transit failure
The newly passed Integrated Mobility Plan calls for a transit priority corridor on Barrington Street, but the Cogswell redesign plan doesn't include it. Why not? Blame planners who design for the status quo.
The Cogswell Lands plans have toured around the city for the past two weeks in an effort to get some public input on the greenspaces that will be part of the plan. (Not where the greenspaces are, mind you, but what might go in them. You can check out the plans and weigh in online...